The Legend of Korra - Book Five: Rebirth
by Saric the Slayer
Summary: One and a half years after their battle with Kuvira, things have gone back to normal for Team Avatar. Their work has begun to take a lot out of them, so they all decide to go on a vacation to the Fire Nation. When they get there however, things are not what they seem, and they soon become caught in the political turmoil and social unrest there, the cause of which is the Red Lotus.
1. Chapter One: Introduction

After that beautiful finale for the Legend of Korra, I have been unable to stop thinking about it and have been wondering non-stop about what happened next. I have hopes that in the future the creators, Mike and Brian, might make a few animated movies for the Legend of Korra, perhaps one every few years, which would continue the story a little bit, or maybe even a Book Five, though that is probably unlikely.

After thinking about it so much, it actually caused me to have a dream about what happened next. It was a really interesting dream, and would probably make a good plot for a movie or a Book Five for the Legend of Korra. This dream has inspired me to create a fan fiction story detailing the events of Team Avatar's next adventure, based on some of the events that occurred in the dream. Many people, myself included, wish that more Legend of Korra stuff would be made. I'm making this story mostly out of a desire for more Legend of Korra stuff and I guess you could sort of consider this an unofficial Book Five. In this fan fiction, I will attempt to fill in some of the gaps in the story and answer many of the unanswered questions we were left with at the end of the finale and reveal the fates of certain characters whose fates still remained a mystery during the Legend of Korra. I will also expand upon the backstories of some of the characters from the Legend of Korra whose pasts we only got small hints of, but weren't touched upon that much.

I will try to make it fit within the canon as much as I can and make it feel like something the creators would make. Throughout the story, there will be numerous references to things that have happened in Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, the comics for The Last Airbender, and even a reference to something from the Legend of Korra video game. Some of the references made might be so small and obscure that only a few of you will notice, but you'll find them quite interesting if you manage to see them.

I have decided to name this story Book Five: Rebirth, mostly because it sounds very much like something Mike and Brian would name it. I also called it Rebirth because it involves the rebirth, return, renewal, change, and transformation of a lot of things. For example, an old enemy thought to be defeated has returned with great strength, certain characters begin to undergo internal change and character growth, and also, the world is now heading into a new age as the old one dies. In this story, Korra and Team Avatar end up going to the Fire Nation, and an interesting plot connected to the story of The Legend of Korra ensues.

First off, the story takes place about a year and a half after the end of Book Four, so there is the time frame for the story. This is kind of meant to be a serious story, but there is still some pairing stuff in it for those of you who are into that kind of thing. It's just very subtle though and it doesn't take up the main focus of the story. I'm pretty terrible at introductions, but the people that I've described this story to have all thought that it was pretty interesting. The first few chapters may start out short, but as the story continues and more chapters are released, they will start to become longer and longer. Enjoy the read.


	2. Chapter Two: Omashu Pursuit

**_One and a half years later_**

The story opens with the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu in the distance. The city of Omashu now looks noticeably larger and more modern than it did during the Hundred Year War. Over the years, it has undergone many expansions and the city has spread out onto the tops and down the sides of the surrounding cliffs and canyons and even a railway system has been added. Despite all of these changes, the center of the city has still retained its general conical shape and its unique delivery system, which has now become integrated into its more modern infrastructure. Located in various places throughout the city are many large, tower-like buildings. Suddenly, at the top of one of these tower-like structures, there is a large explosion.

Out of one of the windows on a lower floor of the building, a man jumps out and lands on one of the rail lines used for deliveries and then begins to run away with great speed. Not long after, someone else jumps out of the same window and flying on an airbending glider, begins to chase after the man. The person flying the glider is Avatar Korra, and she is in hot pursuit of the escaping man. As the chase continues, it leads to different parts of the city and along the way, it becomes progressively more destructive and damaging to the city. The man leaps off of the delivery rail line, lands in the streets below, and then continues running away. Korra, not going to give up the chase so easily, jumps onto a zip-line hanging above the streets and begins sliding down it using her glider. As she is sliding down, an airbender in a flight suit appears, flying alongside her. The airbender following her is Opal Beifong.

Opal then said to her: "Korra be careful. You don't want to cause too much destruction here in the city. People could get hurt."

"Try telling that to him. He's the one blowing everything up." Korra responded.

The person that they are currently chasing is a man known as Zenbei the Bomber, a criminal who is known for using various explosives, bombs, and grenades in his crimes, and has been on wanted lists throughout the Earth Kingdom for the past few years. Back in the United Republic, Korra and Opal had taken on the job of catching this criminal from President Raiko and Tenzin after they had received reports that he had been spotted near the border of the province they are currently in. They picked up his trail there and it had eventually led them to Omashu, where they had tried to apprehend him as he was attempting to make a money transaction inside of a bank at the top of the tower in Omashu. It didn't go quite as planned, leading to Zenbei creating an explosion in an attempt to escape the building, and now they have found themselves chasing him throughout the city.

Korra reaches the end of the zip-line and lands in the streets below and then resumes chasing after Zenbei through the alleyways and markets. Eventually, the chase leads them to the train station, where they finally catch up to him as he attempts to board a train. The train begins to leave the station and a fight ensues between Zenbei and his pursuers, Korra and Opal. He then climbs onto the roof of the train and the two follow him there, the fight continuing as the train is in motion.

"Give up Zenbei." Korra said. "We have you cornered. There's no use in running anymore. Just surrender already."

"As if I'd do something like that. You can't stop me, Avatar." Zenbei then out pulled a handful of bombs from his coat and threw them all at Korra. With a movement of her hands, Korra used airbending to send the bombs flying away from herself.

What Korra didn't realize is that the bombs she had just airbended away had then landed onto the slope of the city below. They exploded on the slope of Omashu and then a miniature landslide ensued from the collapsing buildings. Realizing what had just happened, Korra immediately stops what she is doing and flies off of the train with her glider, and rushes to the landslide. She then goes into the Avatar State and begins bending the earth in the path of the landslide in an effort to stop it from getting worse and hurting the people that are caught in the middle. Opal then joins Korra and begins the lend her the assistance of her airbending in the battle to stop the landslide. Finally, they manage to get it under control and the avalanche of debris is stopped in its path.

Though as a consequence, because they had stopped pursuing Zenbei in order to deal with the landslide, this had given him an opportunity to escape from their grasp, and he was now too far away for them to catch up to. Still on the roof of the train, Zenbei began to laugh and gloat.

"What was that about me giving up Avatar? It looks you're the one who gave up on chasing me. You'll never catch me now."

Suddenly, the train jerked violently and then came to an abrupt and complete stop. Turning towards the front of the train to see what had happened, he noticed that it had hit a pile of debris and rubble that had fallen onto the tracks, most likely from the landslide he had caused himself with his explosives. He then found himself surrounded by many police officers of the city of Omashu, and with no way to escape, he was now cornered. He had just eaten his own words, and through his actions, he had accidentally caused his own capture. Zenbei then cursed his own bad luck and his ironic twist of fate.

* * *

Zenbei is now in handcuffs as the police officers are putting him into the back of a police truck, to which they then shut the doors. Korra and Opal are now talking to the governor of Omashu, along with some of the other police officers. The governor seems to be upset with Korra.

"Do you have any idea how much it's going to cost to fix all of this damage? You were supposed to capture him, not destroy two whole blocks of the city." the governor said to Korra.

"That wasn't my fault. He's the one who was throwing all of those bombs everywhere. He caused the landslide, I was only trying to stop it." Korra retorted.

"Well, at least you did help put a dangerous criminal behind bars. Many people were injured however, though remarkably, nobody was killed. But if you hadn't have stopped the landslide, a lot of people could have lost their lives. For that, I thank you Avatar."

"It's no big deal. After all, saving people is one of the Avatar's duties." Korra then began to leave with Opal and they exited the city. As they were walking down the roadway leading out of the city, Korra said to Opal: "Oh, I can just see it now. When we get back to Republic City, we are going to get an earfull from Tenzin, Lin, and especially President Raiko because all the damage that happened during the chase."

"Actually, it will probably be mostly you that gets it. I didn't really even do anything. You're the one who did most of the work." Opal said.

"Well anyway, did you manage to complete the other task that Tenzin had sent you here for? The one about looking for more airbenders here."

"No, unfortunately. I didn't find any sign of airbenders in Omashu. The reports that Mako received about airbenders being here seems to have been inaccurate. I asked around, and some of the people here do claim that there were airbenders here at one point. But even if they were, they're are all long gone by now. The information he got was probably old and outdated."

"Well that's too bad. Now it seems like for you, this whole trip was a waste of time."

"Not exactly. Before we go, there's something here I want to check out. It's something very interesting I read about in the one of the Air Temple libraries once, and you might like to see it too."

"Okay, take me to it."

* * *

Korra and Opal were now at the bottom of the canyon that lies below Omashu. They find an entrance to a cave and go into it. Inside the caves are numerous tunnels and chasms, all lit by green crystals.

"This cave we are in right now should be directly underneath the city of Omashu. Carefully take a look around. Do you notice anything?" Opal said.

Korra looked around and was astounded by what she saw. Embedded throughout the walls of the cave were what appeared to be the fossilized, skeletal remains of some enormous creature from the ancient past, all connecting together at the ceiling of the cave system, forming into what looked like a massive shell attached to the creature's back.

"That's amazing Opal. A lion turtle is right here, underneath the city of Omashu, and nobody really knows about? Well... was here. By the looks of it, it's long dead now." Korra said.

"Does it make sense now? In the city, there is a legend that Omashu was named after the first two earthbenders, Oma and Shu. Where did they get earthbending from? It had to have been from one of the lion turtles that gave people the power of earthbending. Omashu was a lion turtle city during the time of Avatar Wan. When the lion turtle died, the earthbenders living on it must have continued building the city on top. Even in death, the lion turtle protects the city on its back by providing a natural defense for Omashu."

"That's both amazing and messed up at the same time." Korra said.

After about an hour of examining and exploring the cave and being amazed at its wonders, Korra and Opal were ready to leave. They went outside and then Opal took out her bison whistle and blew on it. Her sky bison, Juicy, appeared in the sky within a few moments and landed beside them. They got onto Juicy and then took off, leaving for Republic City.

Korra looked to Opal and said: "Well, that was exhausting, though in the end it was sort of worth it. Hopefully everyone else back at Republic City is having a better time than we are." Opal nodded in agreement, and with that, they flew off into the horizon.


	3. Chapter Three: The Taking Tree

Back in Republic City, things were going well. Since the battle with Kuvira, the city had been mostly rebuilt and has expanded. This is thanks to the efforts of Asami and Varrick, who together, helped to bring the city back to its former state. The Spirit Wilds still remain a part of the city, and the new spirit portal in the middle of the city has even become a popular tourist destination, allowing many people to visit the Spirit World. During the year and a half since then, all of Korra's friends have each had the chance to visit the Spirit World and experience it for themselves. Also of note, an election had recently been held and Raiko had been reelected as president of the United Republic.

Asami and her company, Future Industries, have become very successful, and they have even entered into a partnership with Varrick. Bolin has since gone on to assist Varrick with many of his endeavors, and together, they have even made a new movie; the movie being an action packed thriller about the battle that took place in Republic City against Kuvira and her mecha giant. As for Mako, he is now a police officer again with the Republic City Police Department, and he is sometimes assisted in his investigations by his brother Bolin, who at the moment doesn't really have much to do when he is not helping Varrick, and ever since he had stopped working for Kuvira, he has technically been unemployed.

Mako and Bolin were now driving in a police car, about to head out to investigate reports that Lin had gotten about a string of random thefts throughout the city. Accompanying them are the airbenders Jinora and Kai, who are sitting in the back seat of the car.

Bolin, sitting in the passenger seat and reading through some papers listing the stolen items, said to Mako: "I don't get it Mako. Why would anyone want to steal all this stuff? Most of the things that were stolen, according to these reports, are just mundane, everyday items that have little value. It seems to me like it's more of an inconvenience than an actual crime."

"Well, that's how it started, but keep on reading." Mako, who is driving the car, said to Bolin.

"Oh, now I see. Some of the major items stolen seem to be artifacts from Air Temple Island, machine parts from Asami's company Future Industries, several important items and documents from President Raiko's office, several items from the Police Department, and worst of all, certain items that are needed for the city's water and power systems to function. I still don't see what someone could possibly want with all of these. Even on the black market, it won't fetch that high of a price."

"I don't know either. Whoever is stealing all of these things, they sure have some strange interests. This morning, I've noticed that some of our own stuff is even missing from our apartment as well. If we don't stop whoever is doing this, they'll probably just keep doing it."

After driving for about a few minutes, they reach the edge of the Spirit Wilds in Republic City and Mako stops the car.

"It was around here where the most recent theft was reported. It's likely that the person behind all of these thefts could be in the Spirit Wilds." Mako said.

"Do we really have to go in there Mako? I've heard all kinds of weird things about the Spirit Wilds from people. Isn't it dangerous to go in there? What if some spirit in there eats our faces off?" Bolin said in a hesitant tone.

"Nothing's going to eat your face off Bolin. Those are just some old ghost stories or folktales you probably heard somewhere. Since we were heading into the Spirit Wilds, that's why I thought to bring Jinora and Kai along with us."

The four of them then enter the Spirit Wilds and begin to search through the jungle of trees, bamboo shoots, vines, and abandoned buildings. Bolin at one point grabs onto a vine and pulls on it, causing a rotted branch to fall onto him, knocking him over.

"Bolin, be careful. You don't know what some of these things in here might be. Try not to touch anything." Mako said as he helped Bolin to get up from the ground.

Then, there was a rustling sound from the nearby bamboo shoots. The four of them, startled by the noise, quickly turned towards it. Out of the bamboo walked what appeared to be a large panda bear.

"A panda bear? I didn't think any even lived around here." Kai said.

"It's not just a panda. It's a spirit." Jinora said. She then ran up to the panda and gave it a hug. "Hello Hei-Bai, it's been a while since I last saw you."

"Do you know this spirit Jinora?" Kai asked.

"Oh course I do. I've met him a few times here in the Spirit Wilds. He was also good friends with my grandpa, Avatar Aang."

"Maybe he can help us. Ask him if he knows anything about all of the missing items and if they're here in the Spirit Wilds." Kai said.

"Hei-Bai, would you happen to know anything about a bunch of stolen items being somewhere around here?" Jinora asked him.

Hei-Bai then let out a low moan and began to turn around. He gestured with his head in the direction he was facing."

"I think he wants us to follow him." Kai said.

The four of them then followed Hei-Bai as he led them through the jungle of the Spirit Wilds until they eventually reached a very large tree. Hei-Bai then gestured towards the tree with his head. They looked up to where he was gesturing and they were stunned by what they saw. Entangled and hanging in the branches, leaves, and vines of the tree was a large collection of items, many of which they recognized as being the items they were looking for.

"How in the world did they all get up there? Mako asked with a confused look. "At least now we know where they are."

He picked up a nearby stick and began trying to reach one of the items on the lowest branches with it, but it was too high up. Kai and Bolin then began to assist Mako, grabbing whatever rocks and sticks they could find, and then throwing them towards the items in an effort to knock them out of the tree. It was useless. Everything they threw into the tree would just become stuck in the branches and leaves like all of the other items.

"Well that doesn't seem to be working." Mako said. "Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way."

Mako then began climbing up the truck of the tree and into the canopy. As he did so, his clothes started to rip and tear as they became tangled and caught by the branches and thorny vines. Realizing it was a bad idea, he then began to climb back down. As he tried to get down, his clothes kept tearing and then, a large part of his uniform came off and became stuck in the tree branches. Now back on the ground and covered in cuts, Mako looked towards Bolin, Kai, and Jinora.

"Great. Look what that stupid tree did." he said. Mako had a very annoyed look on his face, and was now missing the top half of his uniform.

"Let me try Mako. If it's thievery we're dealing with, then you can count on me to get those items back." Kai said. He began to airbend and then flew into the air and headed towards the tree's canopy.

"Kai wait, don't..." Jinora tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Kai flew straight into the branches and became stuck, his flight suit entangled in the thorns and branches. The more he struggled, the more entangled he became and the more his flight suit ripped. Realizing he had no choice left, Kai unzipped his flight suit and slid out of it, landing on the ground below. Kai, now only in his undergarments and covered in cuts, looked as equally bad as Mako now.

"Okay, that tree is evil." Kai said with a slightly frightened look.

"I don't think we're dealing with a normal thief here." Jinora said. "This has to be the work of some kind of spirit."

Then, something jumped out of the tree. Landing on the ground below, it was some sort of small, blue, gremlin-like spirit with a malicious smile. It ran towards them and attempted to make its way into the bamboo shoots.

"That must be the thief we're looking for." Mako said. He tried to run after the spirit and catch it, but it jumped up, kicked him in the face several times, knocking him to the ground, and then jumped into some nearby trees and hopped away on the branches. Mako got up from the ground, looking absolutely furious.

"I'm going to kill that little blue demon." he said with rage.

"It looks like it got away." Bolin said. "There's nothing we can do about it now. At least now we know where all of the stolen items went. We should head back and report what we found."

They all made their way out of the Spirit Wilds and back to the police car. Mako got in and turned the key, only to find that the car would not start. He then got out and opened the hood of the car to see what was wrong.

"The spark plug, the battery, and some of the other parts in here seem to be missing. Hmm, I wonder why that could be." Mako said sarcastically. "I guess we'll have to call on the radio for someone to come get us." He got back into the car, only to notice that the radio was now gone too. "You've got to be kidding me!" he yelled and slammed his hands down on the hood of the car. "I'm a police officer, why do I have to deal with this kind of nonsense?"

In a city where humans and spirits coexist and live side by side with each other, it's inevitable that some of those spirits would eventually cause problems for the people living there and turn out to be annoying, malicious, or just plain obnoxious. In this case, the spirit responsible had literally stolen the clothes right off their backs.

"Looks like we're going to have to walk all the way back from here." Bolin said. "We should probably go get Tenzin and tell him about this."

"It looks like there's nothing more we can do here." Mako said. "I guess we'll just have to wait for Korra to get back and help us. Spirit related stuff is sort of her specialty."

* * *

Korra and Opal are now arriving back in Republic City after their trip to Omashu. Opal lands her sky bison Juicy on Air Temple Island where Pema and Asami are there waiting for them. The two of them get off the bison and go to meet them.

"Glad to see you're back now Korra." said Asami. The two of them then gave each other a hug. "How did it go?"

"If you ignore the fact that Zenbei blew up explosives in my face every ten seconds, caused a landslide that I had to stop, and that the governor of Omashu was upset with me afterwards, then yeah, it all went pretty well. We captured Zenbei and now he's being sent to prison." Korra said.

"Sounds like things turned out okay in the end. By the way, Mako is looking for you." Asami said.

"What for?" Korra asked.

"It's something about needing your help with some sort of problem."

"Uh oh, what is it this time?"

"I'll take you to him. Tenzin is with him to, and even he can't seem to do anything about it." Korra, Asami, and Opal then left to go find Mako.

* * *

Korra, Asami, and Opal arrived at the scene outside of the Spirit Wilds. Standing outside the entrance were Mako, Bolin, Kai, Jinora, Tenzin, Lin, several police officers, and a large gathering of people watching the scene. Korra made her way to Mako to see what was going on.

"Mako, what's this about a Taking Tree that I've been hearing about? What kind of ridiculous mess have you gotten into now?" Korra asked him.

In the time that Korra was gone, the news of the missing things being found in the tree and the spirit that took them had gotten out and had caused quite a stir among the citizens. People had started calling it The Taking Tree, and the police department of Republic City had become the laughing stock of the whole city because of how they were unable to do anything about it. It was a complete embarrassment for Lin and the other police staff.

"Korra, good you're here." Mako said. "We've kind of run into a problem of the spirit kind..."

He filled her in on everything that had happened during their journey into the Spirit Wilds. Already being worn out from the incident in Omashu, Korra decided that she was having none of this and stormed off into the Spirit Wilds to find the spirit responsible. Mako, Bolin, Kai, and Jinora followed alongside her.

"Show me the way Mako." she said. "I'm going to give that little blue demon a stern talking to." They eventually reached the tree in which all of the items were in and found Hei-Bai standing next to it. "Alright, come out you little trouble making spirit." she called out.

Then, the spirit dashed out of the tree and made a run for the edge of the jungle. Hei-Bai let out a loud roar and chased after it. He cut off the spirit and then bit down on it and caught it with the teeth in his mouth. Korra went up to Hei-Bai and grabbed the spirit.

"Thanks Hei-Bai." she said to him. "And as for you, we're going to have a talk." she said to the spirit. Korra began to walk away with the spirit caught in her hand. She then disappeared behind some nearby shoots of bamboo. About a few minutes later, the spirit emerged from the bamboo forest, with an absolutely terrified and traumatized look on its face. Korra then emerged from the forest as well.

"Well Mako, I don't think he'll by giving anyone any problems anymore." she said.

"What did you do?" Mako asked with a surprised look on his face.

"As an adult, I just gave him some much needed discipline. Though it's a spirit, it turns out that this one seems to have the mind of a child. He didn't know that what he was doing was wrong. To him, it was all just fun and games. He promised me that he wouldn't do it again and that next time he would know better."

The spirit now seemed cured of its rampant kleptomania and it returned to its home inside the tree. After all of that was over, the stolen items were removed from the tree and returned to their rightful owners. Korra affectionately petted Hei-Bai on the head and then began to leave.

"It seems like we've both had a tiring and exhausting day." Korra said to Mako as they were leaving the Spirit Wilds.

"Tell me about it. I'm glad that now I can finally go home and rest." he said to her.

"Me too. I'm completely drained." The two of them then said their goodbyes and started to head towards their homes.


	4. Chapter Four: A Vacation

It has now been several days since the incident with the thieving spirit in the city. Korra, Asami, Mako, and Bolin are now sitting together and eating lunch at a restaurant in downtown Republic City. They are conversing with each other and sharing stories of their numerous strange work experiences. Korra had just finished telling them the story of how her recent trip to Omashu had gone.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Bolin said in astonishment. "There's really something like that underneath the mountain Omashu was built on? I never would have guessed just by looking at it when I had gone there during the time I was working for Kuvira."

"By the way, how is the Earth Kingdom doing in its current state?" Korra asked. "I haven't really heard much in the news about it lately."

"It's doing pretty well." Bolin said. "The central government for all of the Earth Kingdom states is finally starting to come together in Ba Sing Se. At least that's what I heard the last time I was in Zaofu with Opal."

Ever since Prince Wu had abolished the monarchy of the Earth Kingdom and instead reduced them to a ceremonial role, the states of the Earth Kingdom have all gained autonomy. They are currently in the process of forming into to a new nation known as the United Earth Kingdom States. Each state now has control over their own affairs and is run by an elected leader, but they are all held together by a central government located in Ba Sing Se. This central government is comprised of a parliament of representatives from every state, and is held in the capital. They all make decisions on how to run the entire nation and each state is given a say in their decisions. With a system like this in place, it has ensured that no one person would end up with too much power, like a monarch, or dictator like Kuvira, or a warlord like Chin the Conqueror, and that no one person would end up secretly controlling all of the kingdom's affairs from behind the scenes, like how Grand Secretariat Long Feng did during the Hundred Year War.

"That reminds me, whatever happened to Kuvira? What's she up to now?" Korra asked.

"Oh she's still serving out her sentence in Zaofu." Bolin said. "All of the damage she has done has now been fixed."

After the battle in Republic City, Kuvira was put on trial for all of her crimes. She was originally going to receive the death penalty, but Prince Wu, most likely still fond of Kuvira, decided to take pity on her and through his efforts and influence was able to have her sentence reduced to simple prison time. As part of her punishment, Kuvira had to help fix all of the damage she had done throughout the Earth Kingdom and that her prison sentence would be carried out in the city of Zaofu, under the watchful eye of Su Yin Beifong, whose custody she is now under. As for Bataar Jr. on the other hand, due to the influence of his powerful mother, he had received a lesser sentence of community service and was now living in Zaofu again with the rest of his family.

"What about Bataar Jr.?" Korra asked.

"Oh he's back to his old self again, from before he left Zaofu with Kuvira to conquer the Earth Kingdom." Bolin said. "He sometimes visits Kuvira in prison. One time when he visited her, Kuvira had apparently told him that despite everything she had done to him, that she still loves him. He stormed off from the prison and ever since then, he has been feeling conflicted and has yet to visit her again."

"Well that sounds complicated." Korra said. "Oh, I just remembered something else. Do any of you remember that Aiwei guy from Zaofu? Whatever happened to him after we left the Misty Palms Oasis? His spirit got trapped in the Fog of Lost Souls in the Spirit World, but his body was still here in our world. "

"Sometime after we left the Misty Palms Oasis, Su Yin had his body taken back to Zaofu." said Bolin. "Even though he was a member of the Red Lotus, she still didn't want to just leave behind the body of her former friend and adviser. He's still in there to this day, hooked up to a life support system in the Zaofu hospital, where he's been in a coma. She hopes that one day his spirit will be able to return to his body, but it's highly unlikely that he'll ever wake up."

"That sounds like a terrible way to live out the rest of your life." said Asami.

"What about you Asami? How has work been going for you at Future Industries?"

"The company has been doing pretty good as of late." Asami responded. "Oh, but you won't believe the ridiculous thing that happened the other day."

"What happened?" Korra asked.

"A few days ago, a customer drove in to the car repair shop at Future Industries with only half a Satomobile. I'm not kidding; the whole back half of the car was just gone. Apparently, one of the Triads had done that to his car as payback for something. He kept wanting us to fix it. I kept telling him that it just wouldn't be possible to fix it and that it would just be better for him to buy a new one, but he kept insisting that we still try to fix it. Eventually we managed to convince him to just go get a new Satomobile because his old one was completely totaled. I mean seriously, half a car? Who does that? The whole incident just turned into one big headache for me and I'm still kind of exhausted from it."

"Some people are just stubborn like that. What about you Mako. Any other problems of the "spirit kind you've run into?" Korra asked sarcastically.

"I don't even want to think about spirits right now, especially ones that take people's stuff. Did I ever tell you guys about how there's a spirit that seems to really have it out for President Raiko? He must have done something to really make this spirit mad. Sometimes when he isn't around, this spirit would come into his office, take some of his stuff, and then hang them on the tree branches outside of the window in his office so that he has to go climb out there and get them. We've been called at the police department a few times by Raiko for us to go and get his stuff down for him, but we've yet to catch the spirit who's doing it. Maybe it was our little mischievous thief from the other day. But one time, he probably didn't want to bother us anymore with his calls, so he decided to actually climb out there himself to go get his stuff. Needless to say, he got stuck in the tree branches and was unable to get back down, so we at the police department then had to borrow a crane from Future Industries to go and get him down. Asami, you remember that, right?"

"Yes I do." Asami said as she laughed.

"It sounds like we all have it rough." Korra said. "Normal everyday life here is just so boring and mundane. I actually kind of miss the days when we were saving the world and going on adventures."

"Me too." Asami said.

"Same here." Mako said.

"Yup." said Bolin.

"We could really use a break from all this." Korra said. "Something to break up all of this monotony." She thought for a moment. "I've got an idea. We should go on a vacation. All of us together."

"That sounds like a great idea. I'd love that." Mako said.

"But where should we go?" Asami asked.

"Oh, I know." Bolin said. "The other day, Varrick actually told me that soon he and Zhu Li will be going on a honeymoon to the Fire Nation. He actually offered to take me and any of my friends with him. He says that he would like to invite a lot of his good friends and their family to come with him and enjoy it as part of one big celebration. This could be the perfect opportunity for us to kick back and relax."

"Sounds great." Korra said. "The Fire Nation it is then. It'll be an adventure, just like old times."

* * *

About a week passes and Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Naga are now at the Republic City docks with Varrick and Zhu Li and they are loading baggage onto a boat, which is Varrick's ship, the Zhu Li, named in honor of Zhu Li. Also there with them are Opal, Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Pema, Rohan, Meelo, Ikki, Jinora, and Kai, who were all invited by Varrick to come along for their vacation to the Fire Nation.

"Now this is what I call a party." Varrick said.

Mako was loading his baggage onto the boat when all of a sudden, he lost his grip, causing him to drop everything he was holding. Korra then went over to him.

"You need some help there Mako?" she asked.

"Yes please." Mako said. She then helped him pick up his baggage and they carried it onto the boat together.

Ever since what Mako had done in order to destroy Kuvira's mecha giant from the inside, the nerves in his left arm have been damaged and have been giving him problems ever since then. Sometimes, his arm just hung limply by his side, and other times, he would suddenly lose all strength in his arm, causing him to drop whatever he was holding at the time. His arm almost always shook now, and he doesn't have as much control over it as he used to.

After loading his baggage, Korra and Mako then met with Bolin, and they were then approached by Tenzin. With Bolin was his pet fire ferret Pabu, who climbed down from Bolin's shoulder and made himself comfortable in his luggage to take a nap.

"Bolin, you're taking Pabu with you?" asked Mako.

"I can't just leave him all alone on Air Temple Island." said Bolin. "We're all leaving on this big vacation, and he seems like he'll be the only one who will get left behind. He'll be lonely without us."

"At least he can keep Naga company while we are there." said Korra.

Then, Lin also appeared on the deck of the boat, most likely having come to see them off.

"Korra, I don't think I need to remind you to be careful when we are traveling. Remember, Zaheer is somewhere out there, and quite possibly, the Red Lotus still is as well." Tenzin said to her.

"I will. I'm not as weak as I was back then; I've become stronger as the Avatar." Korra said. "Though I still don't get how Zaheer had managed to escape."

Apparently, during Korra's battle with Kuvira in Republic City, Zaheer had somehow escaped from his prison. He is now free and on the loose. By the time anyone realized he had escaped, he was long gone.

"I have no idea either. That is a mystery that eludes me to this day." Tenzin said.

* * *

_*flashback*_

It is during the battle in Republic City against Kuvira and her mecha giant. She attempts to fire the spirit cannon at Korra, but misses and the blast instead shoots off into the distance beyond the city.

Zaheer is sitting in his prison cell and then the ground shakes violently and a purple blast of energy fires through the mountain, creating a large hole in the wall and ceiling of Zaheer's prison cell. As this happens, several large rocks and other debris fall onto Zaheer's chains, breaking some of them.

After the debris and dust has settled, Zaheer then gets up and cautiously looks around the room. Not finding anyone around and seeing an opportunity, he breaks his two remaining chains, which have been weakened, and frees himself. With nobody around, he then proceeds to fly away and exits through the hole in the ceiling.

Zaheer then hilariously yells: "FREEDOM!"

_*flashback ends* _

* * *

"Well luckily, Zaheer has been mostly quiet and in hiding ever since he escaped and hasn't caused any trouble. I doubt we'll ever be able to catch him again, especially since now he can just fly anywhere he wants." Korra said. "Maybe he gave up on killing me. Still though, ever since then, I always sleep with the door locked, and every sound at night makes me jump and look over my shoulder."

"There's still the possibility that the Red Lotus is out there somewhere. We can't be sure we caught them all." Lin said. "After your battle with Zaheer, we never really managed to find any more members. Bolin, when you were working with Kuvira, did you ever come across anymore Red Lotus members?"

"Not really." Bolin said. "We marched all over the Earth Kingdom and didn't find a single trace of them. Kuvira only managed to capture and arrest a few members, but they were all just low ranking grunts and sentries that didn't seem to know anything. The main place in the Earth Kingdom where we captured those Red Lotus members, was Kyoshi Island, where surprisingly, many of the people there were actually Red Lotus sympathizers who were hiding them. It's no secret that the people of Kyoshi Island have always hated the monarchy and wanted independence, but even there, we still didn't find any clues to where the rest of them could be. If any of the high ranking members were there, they were gone by the time we marched in."

"Hmm, so that seems to eliminate a lot of places from the list." Lin said. "The United Republic is also an unlikely place for them to be hiding since we know every corner of it. If what Bolin says is true, then the Earth Kingdom is also an unlikely place for the Red Lotus to be, despite how its large size would make it an easy place for them to hide in."

The Air Nomad lands are also an unlikely place for them to be hiding." Tenzin said. If they were there, I'd notice them right away. I know many of the acolytes and airbenders at all the temples and they would tell me if they spotted anything suspicious."

"That just leaves only two places." Lin said. 'The Water Tribes and the Fire Nation. The Water Tribe lands are relatively small, and not all parts of them are inhabited, so they would have been found by now if they were hiding there."

"Not necessarily." Korra said. "Unalaq was a member of the Red Lotus, and he managed to become the chief of the whole Northern Water Tribe without anyone finding out he was with the Red Lotus. He could have turned a blind eye to any members that were there."

"They still would have been found by now. Chief Tonraq and Chiefs Eska and Desna should have at least found some trace of them now that they know that Unalaq was a member, but they haven't." Lin said.

"I guess you're right." Korra said.

"That just leaves the Fire Nation, and we have strong reason to believe that the Fire Nation is where the Red Lotus might have originated from. Because of their isolationist policies, not many people from the other nations know what goes on in the Fire Nation, not even the world leaders. The Red Lotus could use that to their advantage to hide from the rest of the world." Lin said.

"Even if they did originate from there, for all we know, the Red Lotus might have died out by now. They've shown no activity since my battle with Zaheer. You're probably just getting worried over nothing." Korra said.

"I've been at this job long enough to know that the Red Lotus is the type of organization that goes to sleep for long periods of time and then pops back up when you least expect them to." Lin said. "What's also troubling is that in the Fire Nation, there is currently some social unrest and political turmoil going on. There's some mysterious masked man there calling himself Xai Bau who's been stirring up and rallying the people and saying that it's time for the monarchy to be removed from power."

"A masked revolutionary? That sounds familiar." Korra said sarcastically.

"Korra, didn't you once tell me that Zaheer had said to you that the founder of the Red Lotus was a man named Xai Bau?" Tenzin asked.

"It's impossible for it to be him. Xai Bau would have died a long time ago. Even if he is alive, he'd be over 120 years old." Korra said. "This masked guy is probably someone just using the reputation of Xai Bau's name for his own goals. Hopefully he doesn't turn into another Amon. I've had enough of dealing with evil guys in masks."

"Korra, are you sure you still want to go to the Fire Nation despite all of these red flags?" Lin asked.

"Of course I'm still going." Korra said. "I don't even care if the whole world is ending; nothing is going to stop me from enjoying myself on this vacation. Besides, Lord Zuko will be there to greet us, and we'll probably have the full protection of the Fire Nation security forces and the White Lotus."

"Fine then, I'm coming with you. Someone has to keep you safe while you're there." Lin said with a smile.

"That's great." said Korra. "You should come with us too. You deserve a vacation after everything you've been through. We'll wait for you. Just go and pack your things." Lin then left to go prepare, and after about half an hour returned with her baggage.

"Wow, that was quick." Korra said. You must really want to come with us."

"Alright, I'm ready now. I left Saikhan in charge of the police department while I'm gone. Now lets head out." Lin said.

With everyone now ready and on the boat, that being Korra, Naga, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Opal, Varrick, Zhu Li, Lin, Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Pema, Rohan, Meelo, Ikki, Jinora, Kai, and a few of Varrick's staff, they began to set out.

"Zhu Li, set this ship on a course for the Fire Nation." Varrick said.

"Aye aye captain." Zhu Li said jokingly. The ship left the docks and began to sail off into the ocean.


	5. Chapter Five: The Arrival

A few days later, the boat arrives at a harbor town in the Fire Nation. Everyone begins to disembark and they all start to unload their baggage.

"Finally, dry land." Bolin said.

"Now we can officially begin our honeymoon Zhu Li." Varrick said.

"So this is the Fire Nation." Mako said. "I've always wanted to come here someday, and now here we are."

"The Fire Nation is where mom came from isn't it?" Bolin said. "Hey Mako, do you think some of her family might still be living here?"

"I don't know Bolin." Mako said. "Even if they did, I doubt we'll be lucky enough to run into them like how we did with dad's side of the family in Ba Sing Se."

Two people then approach the group and meet them at the harbor. It is Lord Zuko and General Iroh.

"Greetings Korra." Zuko said. "It is an honor to have the Avatar visit the Fire Nation. This is the first time the Avatar has come here since the time of Avatar Aang."

"Thanks. This is actually the first time I've ever been to the mainland of the Fire Nation." Korra said. "That is if you don't count that one island on the far outskirts of the Fire Nation that I once washed ashore on."

"Hello Korra." Iroh said. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too Iroh." Korra said. "I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were with the United Forces."

"The Fire Nation is actually where I live when I'm not on duty with the United Forces and is where I spend most of my time when I'm not busy with work." Iroh said.

"I'd love to stay and talk, but I really must be going now." Zuko said. "I have some business to attend to back at the capital. I only came here to ensure your safe arrival, and now I have done that. I'll leave Iroh along with a few security guards and White Lotus sentries with you to keep you safe in your travels. We'll meet again at the palace. Just get on the train here in this town and it will take you straight to the capital. I bid you farewell Korra. Enjoy your stay here in the Fire Nation." He began walking away and proceeded to get onto his dragon, Druk, who was nearby. Druk then took off into the air and flew away.

The large group gathered all of their belongings and started to head to the train station. Upon getting there, they entered a modern and slightly futuristic looking train. The train they had boarded would travel through the countryside of the Fire Nation until it eventually reached the capital city. It started to move, and with that, their vacation in the Fire Nation began.

The train traveled through many interesting places on its way to the capital. Many of the towns and cities they saw out of the windows of their train cars looked very modern and had a slightly more advanced level of technology than Republic City did. Some of the places they saw were new and modern, and others were ancient and mysterious. At one point, the train passed by a great, ancient forest, surrounded by four circular lakes and filled with strange statues and spirits of all kinds.

The train eventually passes by another interesting area. The whole landscape around the train seems to be completely devastated and ruined, and a destroyed city can be seen in the distance. This catches the attention of Korra, who sees it from the window of the train car.

"What happened here?" Korra asked. "I've never seen devastation like this before. What could have done something like this?" Iroh then appeared next to her at the window.

"So you don't know about it?" Iroh said. "Well, I'll give you a brief explanation; the whole story is very long and complicated. About 20 years ago, a devastating civil war happened here in the Fire Nation. It started around the time Avatar Aang died and must have ended around the time you were just a child . You and your friends were probably too young to remember it when it happened, but I witnessed it firsthand and even fought in a few of the battles. It was a terrible war, and many people lost their lives in it. A lot of the older generations here remember it well and still have some bad memories of it. Many parts of the country were devastated and ruined during the war, though most of them have now returned to the way they were before. Some areas though, just never fully recovered and have remained devastated, as scars from the war, like this area here."

"That sounds terrible." Korra said. "It's unfortunate that the Avatar couldn't have done anything about it, since Aang died and I was too young at the time." Korra then remembered back to when she had barged in on the meeting of world leaders during the Kuvira crisis. Firelord Izumi was there and had said something about the Fire Nation having spent too much of its history fighting nonsense wars. This must have been one of those wars she was referring to.

A few hours pass and one by one, everyone eventually falls to sleep. Korra being one of the last people awake, continued to stare out the window of the train. She then started to feel the fatigue taking hold of her and she drifted off to sleep as well.

* * *

Korra awakened from her sleep in the early morning, only to notice that she was the first one up. Feeling bored, and still being groggy and half asleep, she walked over to the window to see where they currently were. She is taken aback by what she sees. The train is now starting to enter a very large and beautiful, slightly futuristic looking city. She is filled with awe, never having seen anything like it before, and takes in all of the scenery in sight.

Then, something catches her eye. On top of a statue, on the top of a very large tower in in the far distance in the city, she sees what appears to be man standing there, looking off into the horizon at the rising sun. She leans closer to the window to try and get a better look and notices that on his face, he seems to be wearing what looks like a white, almost featureless mask. She immediately does a double take and rubs her eyes and then takes another look. The person that was standing on the statue is now gone.

"Who in the world was that?" Korra said to herself quietly. She was now slightly unnerved by what she had just seen, and wonders if that person had seen her from such a great distance. "Maybe I just imagined it." Still half asleep, she pushes the thought to the back of her mind and decides to forget about it, thinking that she was probably still dreaming a little bit after she had woken up. Then, the door to her train cabin quickly slides open, startling her and causing her to jump. In through the door walks Iroh.

"It seems you're the only one up right now." Iroh said.

"Good grief Iroh, you almost scared me to death." Korra said.

"Sorry about that." Iroh said. "I just came to tell you guys that we've arrived at our destination. You should probably wake the others up soon."

Korra then wakes up Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Naga, who are all asleep in the same cabin as her. After about a few minutes, everyone else in their large group has awoken and have disembarked from the train with their baggage.

"Welcome to Capital City, the Fire Nation's largest city and center of government."

"This place is amazing." said Korra.

Everyone seemed awestruck by the sight of the city, it being the first time that most of them had been here. They all then boarded several cars that were waiting for them at the train station and they are driven to the Fire Nation royal palace. Upon getting out of the cars, they see a small group of people waiting there to greet them at the top of the steps, among which is Zuko and Firelord Izumi.

'This is the royal palace." Iroh says to them. "You may stay here if you'd like. We'd be happy to have you here." Firelord Izumi then approaches them in order to greet them.

"Greetings, Avatar Korra." Izumi says. "We would be honored to have the Avatar and her friends as guests here in the Fire Nation royal palace, especially after everything you've done for the Fire Nation as Avatar Aang and after having saved the world many times in your current lifetime." Iroh then went over to Izumi and gave her a hug.

"I've missed you mother. It's been so long since I last saw you." Iroh said to her.

"It's only been two weeks Iroh." Izumi said with an annoyed look on her face. "When are you going to find yourself a girlfriend and get married? I'm getting tired of you always hanging around and being so attached to me. You're just like your grandfather. He was the same way with his mother."

"Wow, I never would have guessed that General Iroh was such a mamma's boy." Mako said with a surprised look. Then, Meelo appeared next to Mako.

"Hey Mako, has anyone ever mentioned that you and Iroh look a lot alike?" Meelo said playfully.

"Uh, no." Mako said.

"Now that you mention it, they actually do kind of look alike." Korra said.

"You even have matching scars." Meelo said, pointing out the scars on Mako's left arm and the scar on Iroh's left arm.

"We don't look alike." Mako said. "Aside from having the same haircuts, we both just have that firebender look."

"Firebender look?" Korra said, laughing. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Then, an older, middle aged looking woman appeared from the group and greeted them.

"Hello everyone." she said. "It's nice to meet all of you." She seemed very happy, outgoing, energetic and perky for someone of her age. The way she acted was almost similar to the way Ikki did.

"Hello there." Korra said. "Who might you be?"

"Oh, my name is Kiyi." she said. "I'm Lord Zuko's sister." Bolin then starts to freak out and becomes giddy with excitement.

"I can't believe it. I can't believe it." Bolin said.

"What is it Bolin?" Korra asked.

"I never thought I'd actually get to meet another one of the legendary Three Dragon Siblings." Bolin said. "You have no idea how happy I am right now."

"Who are these Three Dragon Sibling people?" Meelo asked.

"Only the three most awesome people ever from the Fire Nation." Bolin said. "They are three siblings from the royal family who are well-known and revered throughout the Fire Nation. They were influential in shaping the Fire Nation's history in the decades after the Hundred Year War. The three of them are Lord Zuko, his sister Princess Azula, and his half-sister Kiyi."

"I'm honored that somebody remembers me.' Kiyi said with a smile. "I'm usually overshadowed by the other two."

"I wonder, where's the third sibling, Princess Azula?" Bolin asked.

"Oh she's out and about as usual." Zuko said, appearing next to Kiyi. "I'm not really sure when she'll be back. She just comes and goes through the city as she pleases."

Bumi then appears from the group and walks over to Firelord Izumi.

"Um... hello Izumi." Bumi said shyly. "It's been a while hasn't it."

"It has been, dear Bumi. Too long." Izumi said with a smile. The two of them hugged and greeted each other as if they were old friends.

"Do you two know each other?" Korra asked.

"Well, you see, back in my days with the United Forces and the time I spent in the Fire Nation, me and Izumi were very close friends. For a while we actually, kind of, sort of, dated..."

Everyone was noticeably shocked by this revelation, especially Tenzin.

"Bumi, you never told me about this." Tenzin said.

"The only other person I've told about this was Kya." Bumi said. "After me and Izumi broke up and she married her current husband, I was really depressed and didn't really want to talk about it. I eventually got over it, and since then, me and Izumi have stayed great friends."

"That story kind of sounds familiar." Korra said, looking at Lin, who was at the back of their group.

After about a few minutes of everyone conversing with each other, Izumi then had a few of the servants at the palace collect the baggage of Korra and her friends and they take it to the rooms where they will be staying.

"The servants here will show you all to your rooms." Izumi said.

"Thank you for all of your kindness and hospitality Firelord Izumi." Korra said.

"What now?" Asami asked, appearing next to Korra.

"We have a big day ahead of us." Korra said. "We are going to go sight-seeing in the city and enjoy ourselves and just have an overall fun time."

"Sounds great." Asami said.

* * *

It is now later in the day, in a rural town somewhere in the countryside of the Fire Nation. There is an outdoor noodle shop with a few tables placed outside of the shop. Sitting at one of these tables, eating a bowl of noodles, is a man who appears to be wearing the attire of a monk or priest, and on his head he is wearing a conical straw hat. On the table he is sitting at, there is a Pai Sho board. He is then approached by someone, a boy, who looks to be around the age of a teenager, or perhaps younger.

"Is this spot taken?" asked the boy.

"No, go ahead and sit down if you'd like." the monk said.

"I don't think I've ever seen you around here before." said the boy.

"I've been away for a while. This is the first time I've been here in years."

"What do you call yourself?" said the boy.

"I am known by some people as Monk Gyatsuboro." said the monk. They sat there for about a few minutes and ate their bowls of noodles.

"I'm feeling a little bored." the boy said. "Hey monk, want to play a game of Pai Sho?" The look on the monks face showed that his interest had been stirred.

"Sure I'll play." the monk said. They started to choose pieces from the board on the table and began to play.

"So you've decided to play using only the red pieces?" the monk said. "I guess I'll play with the red ones as well." After about a few minutes of playing, all of the red pieces on the board had been arranged into the shape of a lotus flower.

"I have a question for you monk." said the boy.

"What might this question be?" asked the monk.

"When does the lotus flower start to bloom?" The look on the monk's face showed that he realized why he was asking him this and that he knew the answer.

"The lotus flower starts to bloom in the evening sunset." the monk answered. "So you're a grand master too?"

"So, Monk Gyatsuboro? Is that what you're calling yourself now?" asked the boy. The name they told me was different. But it is you, isn't it, Zaheer?"

"Don't use my name out in the open like that." the monk said as he covertly looked around to see if anyone had just heard what the boy had said. "Too many people already know my real name. I'm too well known, so I decided to start going by an alias." Zaheer took off his hat and set it on the table. His head and face were now cleanly shaven, with the exception of a small beard on his chin, most likely kept so that he would not be immediately recognized.

I don't think I've ever met you before." Zaheer said. "Are you a new member of the Red Lotus?"

"I joined the order during the time that you were locked away in prison by the White Lotus." the boy said. "That's probably why we've never met before."

"So what do I call you then?" asked Zaheer.

"My name is Sanken, the order's most recent grand master." the boy said. Zaheer then had a surprised look on his face.

"You're Sanken the Iron Dragonfly!?" said Zaheer, obviously surprised and taken aback. "Sanken the Magnet? Sanken the Untouchable? The one I've heard so many rumors about?" Zaheer said.

"Yes, that's me." Sanken said with a smile.

"I imagined someone of your reputation to be much older." Zaheer said. "For someone as young as you to have climbed up the ranks so fast; it's very unusual. This says a lot about your skills. So why have you come looking for me?"

"You haven't reported in for a very long time. We were beginning to get a little bit worried, so they sent me to go looking for you." said Sanken. "The leader has called for a meeting of all of the grand masters and any remaining Red Lotus members."

"Why is that?" Zaheer asked.

"We are beginning preparations for something big." Sanken said. "If you are still with our cause Zaheer, then come with me and we'll go to the meeting place." Zaheer stopped and thought for a moment.

"Okay, fine, I'll come with you and see what this is all about, though my main reason for staying with the order was lost about four years ago." Zaheer said.

After about a few more minutes, the two of them get up from the table and leave. They then begin travelling down the road leading out of the town and into the countryside.


	6. Chapter Six: Capital City

Korra and her large group of friends are now in the city and are about to begin their day of relaxation and sight-seeing. They then begin to split into groups and plan to have each group go off and do whatever they have planned. Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Opal, Iroh, and Naga have formed one group together, while Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Lin, Pema, Rohan, Meelo, Ikki, Jinora, and Kai have formed another.

"Alright everyone, now make sure to stay close to your group so that you don't get lost." Korra said. "We'll all meet up back here in the late afternoon. Now let's all go and enjoy ourselves."

"As for me and Zhu Li, we're going to go off on our own and enjoying ourselves on our honeymoon." Varrick said.

The groups then set off into the city and began their day. Throughout the day, many interesting things happen with each group. At one point, Meelo decided to wander off, causing Tenzin's group to have to go find him, which they eventually did. Later in the day, the groups visit some of the Fire Sage Temples in the city and see some of the royal mausoleums and tombs as well as visiting many museums. They also visit a memorial to many of the past Avatars of the Fire Nation located inside of a temple. At another point, Korra's group takes a ride on a boat traveling down the river that runs through the city. After that, the groups eat lunch and spend some time browsing through the various shops in the city and even buy a few souvenirs for themselves.

After all of that, Korra's group eventually comes across an unexpected sight. They have stumbled upon a large group of people who appear to be holding some sort of protest. What catches Korra's attention is that many of the people in the protest crowd seem to have various scars and burn marks as well as many of them having metal prosthetic, cybernetic, and robotic parts replacing different parts of their body. Most of the people in the crowd are chanting anti-monarchy slogans and holding up signs with various messages written on them about the monarchy needing to step down.

"What's all this about?" Korra asked. "What are these people doing?" Iroh then appeared next to Korra.

"It's a protest against the monarchy, most likely being held by various victims of the civil war I had told you about earlier." Iroh said. "Some of these people were soldiers who fought in it, and others were just innocent people who were caught in the middle of it all. I think I even recognize a few of them as people I fought side by side with in battle during the war. All of those injuries you see that they have most likely happened to them as a result of the war. Many people were hurt by the war and have had their lives destroyed by it."

"That much I can figure easily, but what does it have to do with the monarchy?" Korra asked.

"In the years after the war, many of the people in the Fire Nation have begun to resent the monarchy, believing that they were partially responsible for what had happened. They believe that the monarchy has become weak and that it longer cares for the people."

"Do the people of the Fire Nation feel as though the Avatar was partially to blame for the war as well because they couldn't do anything about it, which is supposed to be one of their duties?" Korra asked. "People can sometimes hold a grudge against the Avatar over something that happened in one of their past lives."

"No, not really." Iroh said. "I think that that by now, most of the people of the Fire Nation are aware that the war started when Aang died and that you were just a child when it was going on. They don't hold anything against you for not having done anything about it. Besides, even though in the Fire Nation we've heard tales of your accomplishments, most people here don't even know what you look like. This is the first time the Avatar has been here since Aang's time. Even if you were to walk right up to some people, they still probably wouldn't know who you are."

"How did that whole war start?" Korra asked. "As the Avatar, I kind of have a responsibility to at least know about what happened since I wasn't able to do anything about it."

"It all started around the time Avatar Aang died." Iroh said. "With the Avatar dead, many political dissidents and warlords, some of them loyalists from the time of Ozai, were unhappy with the way the monarchy was running things and saw an opportunity to grab power for themselves and create their own territories. The Fire Nation became split into various warring factions fighting against the monarchy and each other. My grandfather Lord Zuko, who was Firelord at the time, tried his best, but he could not stop the Fire Nation from breaking apart and descending into chaos."

"So this war happened mostly because a greedy few wanted power?" Korra said.

"That's part of the reason." Iroh said. "It was a war started because of selfish desires and conflicting viewpoints and ideals. Eventually, after a few hard years of fighting, those on the side of the monarchy managed to win the war and the Fire Nation was finally reunified, but at the cost of many lives. After it was over, many people began to lose confidence and trust in the monarchy because they believed that their inaction, ineptitude, and indecisiveness had allowed the war to happen in the first place. Ever since then, there has been a growing movement of people wanting the monarchy to step down and let the people rule themselves. The example that the Earth Kingdom has shown of the states recently gaining self-governance has only added full to the fire and has increased support for their cause even more."

Mako and Bolin then appeared next to Korra.

"So that must be it Bolin." Mako said. "I remember when we were little, mom had told us that around the time she had first met dad, she had left the Fire Nation because of a war that was going on there. This must have been what she was talking about. I never could have guessed it was that bad."

"War can be a terrible thing." Iroh said. "I lost a few of my closest friends in the war. One of the main reasons I joined the United Forces was so that I could protect and defend people, so that something like that war would be prevented from ever happening again and so that nobody would ever have to go through what some of those people went through in the war.

One of the protesters then got up onto a pedestal and began to speak on a megaphone.

"People of the Fire Nation, heed our call." the protester said. "Those in power have completely lost touch with the people and now longer care about them. These people here who have been affected by the war have been mostly ignored and forgotten; relics of a time that the monarchy just wishes to bury and hide. There is however one man who has not forgotten. A man who sympathizes with them and all of the common people of the Fire Nation. This man is Xai Bau, the Champion of the People, and he wishes to bring about change to this nation. The time has come for the outdated monarchy to step down and let the people rule themselves, and Xai Bau will be the one to lead us down that path."

The crowd of protesters began to cheer, as well as some of the people in the city watching the protest. The protesters then put up an effigy of a masked man, and begin firing off confetti. They then raised a flag with the symbol of Xai Bau's cause on it; a simple red lotus flower.

"Where have I seen this before?" Korra said sarcastically. "It's like the whole Amon crisis all over again, but this time with a different goal in mind. From the looks of it, the Red Lotus might have something to do with this, though I'm not sure if anyone even realizes it. I didn't think that the Red Lotus could still have this much influence even after that major defeat they suffered four years ago."

Some of the protesters then notice Iroh among the group and begin to point it out.

"It seems that Fire Prince is now here among us." the protester with the megaphone said. "Have you come to oppress and arrest us for disturbing the peace? We are holding a peaceful protest."

The crowd of protesters then began to boo at Iroh. Some of them had rotten fruit with them and began throwing it in the direction of Korra's group.

"I think it's time we got out of here." Korra said.

"I agree." said Mako.

As they are leaving, a suspicious looking person, standing up with his back against the wall of a nearby building, notices the group leaving and then quietly slips away and disappears into an alleyway.

* * *

Korra's group is now on their way to meet back up with everyone else at the designated meting spot at the palace. As they are walking back through the city, they spot an old woman who seems to be struggling to carry some bags filled with various items. Noticing this, and feeling kind of bad about it, Mako and Bolin go ahead of the group and walk over to her.

"Need some help there Ma'am?" Mako said to her.

"Why thank you." said the old woman. "Aren't you a nice young man. Yes, I could use some help carrying these bags. My back and shoulders are killing me."

"Where are you headed to?" Mako asked.

"The royal palace." the old woman said.

"You're in luck lady." Bolin said. "That happens to be the same place we're going to."

"Isn't that wonderful. It seems like we'll both benefit from this." said the old woman.

They each grabbed a bag from her and carried them all the way to the palace, with the rest of the group following nearby. They finally got there and reached the top of the steps.

"You can go ahead and set them down here." the old woman said. "I'll just have the servants come and take them to wherever they need to go." They were then approached by a few servants who picked up the bags and carried them off into the palace. "Thank you for helping me carry all of those things. I wish I had grandchildren like you two. Now I must go and attend to some things." She then started to walk away and disappeared further into the palace. The rest of the group then caught up to Mako and Bolin.

"Who was that nice old lady?" Bolin asked as Iroh approached.

"That was actually my great aunt Azula." Iroh said. "I couldn't really tell who it was on the way to the palace because of how far away we were, but when we got closer I noticed her."

"What?!" Bolin said. "That was Azula, the third of the legendary Three Dragon Siblings and I didn't even know it? I feel like such an idiot for not realizing, especially since I really wanted to meet her."

"You know, she's not really as weak and helpless as she might seem, despite her old age." Iroh said. "Knowing her, she probably pretended to be having trouble with those bags so that she could trick you two into carrying them for her and doing all of the work. She sometimes uses her old age to her advantage like that."

Mako was now embarrassed and turning slightly red.

"You sure do have a soft spot for old ladies, don't you Mako." said Korra.

"I can't help it. She reminded me of my grandmother Yin." Mako said.

"So what do we do now?" asked Bolin.

"I'm not really sure." said Korra. "For now we'll wait for the others to get back here."

"I know something interesting we could do" said Iroh. "Tomorrow, there's going to be a huge festival in the city. It's the Festival of Avatar Mei-Ling, which is held once every year. There's going to be lots of fun and entertaining things to do there."

"A festival, that sounds like fun." said Korra. "I've heard that festivals in the Fire Nation are a sight to behold. This one in particular is a festival celebrating one of my past lives." Zuko then appeared from one of the hallways and met with the group.

"Oh yes, they really are something, especially the ones that happen on Ember Island during the summer." Zuko said.

"Hello again Lord Zuko." Korra said.

"So it seems you want to go to the Festival of Avatar Mei-Ling?" said Zuko. "When Iroh was a child, me and my sisters used to take him to the festival every year."

"I'm curious, who was Avatar Mei-Ling?" Korra asked. "Since I don't have access to any of my past lives, I have no idea who most of the Avatars were and don't remember many of them."

"She was the Fire Nation Avatar from about three cycles ago." Zuko said.

"That must have been a very long time ago." Korra said.

"Indeed, almost 1200 years ago if you add up the years of all the Avatars between you and her." Zuko said. "There are many stories of past Avatars from the Fire Nations and many of them are revered and celebrated. The past three Fire Nation Avatars were especially notable."

"Who were they?" Korra asked. Everyone else in Korra's group was now noticeably interested as well and gathered around to hear Zuko's recounting of their history.

"The first of the three, and the most recent Fire Nation Avatar was Avatar Roku." Zuko said. "He was my great-grandfather, and was a friend of Firelord Sozin, until he was betrayed by him."

"I think I still remember Roku from the past Avatars when I still had my connection to them." Korra said.

"The second of the three is the Fire Nation Avatar who came before Roku, in the previous Avatar cycle." Zuko said. "His name was Avatar Han-Jin. He was a Fire Sage from one of the temples. He was an odd fellow; very unorthodox in his methods, but they worked. Unlike most Fire nation Avatars, whose animal guide was usually a dragon, his wasn't. He couldn't stand to be around dragons. He was scared to death by them apparently. One day, he found a lava salamander on the slope of a volcano when he was out on a walk. Ever since then, it became fond of him and it always followed him around everywhere he went, so he decided to keep it."

"Reminds me a little bit of how I first found Naga." Korra said.

"Avatar Han-Jin was also known for a unique bending ability he had." Zuko said. "He could actually bend lava, and extremely well too."

"Just like me." Bolin said with amazement. "Does that mean he was also born with the ability to lavabend, or can any Avatar learn how to lavabend because they can bend all of the elements?"

"I'm pretty sure he could lava bend because he was an Avatar." Zuko said. "Aside from those who are born lavabenders, the only other people who could bend lava would be Avatars. Though since lavabending isn't necessary to learn as part of the Avatar's journey, most Avatars usually don't learn or master it."

"Hmm, maybe you could teach me how to lavabend someday Bolin." Korra said.

"The third of the celebrated Fire Nation Avatars, and also the Fire Nation Avatar who came before Avatar Han-Jin, was Avatar Mei-Ling." Zuko said.

"So she's the one the festival is honoring?" Korra said. "What was she like? She must have done some incredible things."

"Avatar Mei-Ling lived a honorable and noble life. She was born into royalty, as a princess, but she willingly left all of that behind and placed her Avatar duties above everything else and traveled the world to learn all of the elements. During the time she lived in, a different royal dynasty ruled the Fire Nation, so even if she was from the royal family, she isn't by any chance related to me or Iroh."

"Sounds like she took her Avatar duties very seriously if she was willing to leave behind her comfortable life of royalty in order to fulfill them." Korra said.

"She accomplished many great things in her lifetime and brought an era of peace to the Fire Nation." Zuko said. "She was like the Fire nation's equivalent of Avatar Kyoshi or Avatar Yangchen."

"All of these Avatars sound like remarkable people. It's too bad I can't talk to any of them anymore, and probably won't be able to ever again." Korra said sadly.

"Now, my throat is getting dry after all of that talking." Zuko said. "I'm going to go get a drink of water."

"Thanks for the knowledge and history." Korra said. "It was very interesting. I think I'm going to go back to my room to rest for a little bit." After Zuko began to leave, the other group then arrived at the palace, along with Varrick and Zhu Li. Bolin then approached them.

"Kai, Tenzin, where have you guys been?" Bolin asked.

"We got lost, big time." Kai said. "We came across this enormous indoor supermarket and went inside. That was a huge mistake. It was even bigger than the little Ba Sing Se shopping mall in Republic City. We got lost in there thanks to Meelo and spent two and a half hours just trying to find the door to get out. Luckily Jinora was able to find the exit. After all that, we're exhausted and just want to rest."

"Same here." said Bolin.

Both groups of people then headed towards their rooms to rest for the day.


	7. Chapter Seven: Days of the Past

A few hours later, and with evening approaching, Korra and her friends are now rested. Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Opal, and Naga are now sitting in a lounge room somewhere in the palace. Currently bored, and wanting something to pass the time, they have begun conversing with each other and are telling stories of various events from their childhoods.

"That, is how I first found Naga." Korra said, having just finished telling them the story of how she first met Naga.

"So you were the first person to ever tame a polar bear dog?" Bolin said.

"Yes." Korra said. "Every Avatar has an animal guide. Naga has become mine. What about you Mako? Do you have a story from your childhood?"

"I kind of do." Mako said. "The other day I just randomly found myself remembering this. It was when me and Bolin were kids. We had gone to the supermarket one day with our mom and Bolin had gotten lost and separated. We were freaking out trying to find him. We thought he had gotten kidnapped or something. Eventually, we did end up finding him in the market square, and he was standing on top of some crates. When we went over to him, he slipped and fell off the crates, hitting his head on the ground. After that he passed out and was out for about an hour."

"Wait a minute Mako, did that really happen?" Bolin asked with a shocked look on his face.

"Yes it did." Mako said.

"Why is it that I don't remember that?" Bolin asked.

"It's probably because you hit your head that you don't remember." Mako answered. "You had us scared to death. We thought you were going to die."

"Sorry I scared you and mom like that." Bolin said. "Well, I have a story. This one is kind of funny."

"What is it?" Mako asked.

"I remember back when we were kids and our parents were still alive, we used to live in an old apartment building." Bolin said. "In that apartment, there was a series of old speaking tubes that ran throughout the entire building. At the time we were living there, me and Mako had no idea what those tubes were, and were actually a little bit creeped out by them, especially since our parents had told us that ghosts live inside them, most likely to keep us from messing around with them. Well, one day, I actually figured out what the tubes were for and how to use them. I started to play with them a lot, and I remember that one time, I scared some little kid with them real good." Mako then raised an eyebrow, like he just knew; somewhere in the back of his mind what Bolin was going to say next.

"One night, I got out of bed, and decided to play around with them because I was bored." Bolin said. "I went down to the boiler room and started speaking through one of the tubes. Apparently, some little kid heard me on the other end of one of the tubes that ran through his room and he had been woken up by it. He sounded really scared and had no idea where the voice was coming from, so I decided to pull a joke on him. I pretended that I was some ghost who lived in the tubes and I told him that one night, I would come to take him away. The kid was so freaked out. He actually believed me. After the whole thing was over, I was laughing my butt off at how I'd managed to fool him into thinking it was real." Mako then had a look of realization on his face.

"What!? Bolin you little jerk! That was you?" Mako said. "Do you have any idea how scared I was? Every night for a month I couldn't sleep in my room and went to sleep in the same room with mom and dad. I was always looking out the window, wondering when the ghost would come back to get me. But that was you the whole time just playing with the speaking tubes?" Bolin's face showed that he had suddenly realized the truth behind what happened.

"Ohhh, now I see." Bolin said. Everyone began to laugh, except for Mako.

"Guys, it's not funny." Mako said.

"There's something we both have in common Mako." Korra said. "We both know what it's like having nightmares about someone and being unable to sleep because you're wondering when they'll come and get you."

"Oh, I have an idea." Korra said. "Opal tell us a story about your grandma Toph."

"I know, tell us who Su's dad is." Bolin said. Everyone's attention was now grabbed, and they all crowded around Opal, like eager children crowding around a storyteller. Sitting curled up in Opal's lap was Pabu, who then got up and went over to Bolin to escape the crowd.

"Okay, I have the perfect one." Opal said. "This is the story my mom once told me about how she had accidentally found out who her father was. She didn't find out who he was until it a few years after he had died."

"Who was he?" Korra asked eagerly.

"She found out that her father was someone by the name of Satoru. He was some really famous and important engineer. He had operated a factory somewhere in the United Republic which supplied all kinds of materials to the entire nation."

"Your grandfather was Satoru the Master Engineer!?" Asami said with a look of amazement. "He was one of the chief architects that that helped design the infrastructure of Republic City. When my father was younger, he used to work for him. Satoru taught him everything he knew. When I was a girl, he would always tell me stories about all of the crazy things his teacher Satoru had invented. I've always wondered, whatever happened to Satoru?"

"My mom was too young to have remembered her father, and he was usually always busy at his factory, so he never got to spend time with her." Opal continued. "But one thing she did remember was that when she was a little girl, her mother Toph had come home crying one day, as if something terrible had happened."

"What? Toph was crying?" Korra said with a look of surprise. "I never thought Toph could cry. I thought she had the sensitivity of a boulder. I guess it's easy to forget that she's only human too."

"Apparently, as my mom found out years later, Satoru had died in a terrible accident at his factory." Opal said. "After the day he died, for the next few weeks, Toph was really sad and depressed, and my mom and her sister had no idea why. Satoru must have meant a lot to her. He was probably the love of Toph's life."

"How did your mom find out who her father was?" Korra asked.

"Several years later, my mom and her sister were home by themselves one day and were bored." Opal said. "They were digging through some of my grandma's old stuff and that's when they discovered it. They had found several things that had belonged to Satoru, including pictures and letters from him, and from that my mom realized that Satoru was her father. That was also the day that my mom and sister had found out that they were half-sisters and that Toph was keeping secrets from them about their fathers. Up until that point, they had believed that they were full blooded sisters. They kept it a secret, between the two of them, about what they had found, but ever since that day, that was when a rift had started to form between my mom, her sister Lin, and their mom Toph and their relationship became strained."

"So that's how it all started." Mako said. "I don't think I've told you guys this, but after the whole crisis with Kuvira was over, Chief Beifong had asked for my help in searching through the data archives at the Police Department and the Republic City Library. She was looking for any information she could find on some guy named Kanto. I'm guessing that was her father. We didn't find anything, so Lin reached the conclusion that one of two things could be the reason why that was. The first is that Kanto was not a citizen of the United Republic, so there wouldn't be any information on someone who was a citizen of a different country, like the Earth Kingdom. The second conclusion that she came to was that Kanto was most likely deceased by that point."

"It must have been what Toph had said that one night when we were going to rescue Opal's family that had set Lin off on her search." Bolin said.

"One thing was passed down to my mom from her father." Opal said. "She believes that some of the things that she had inherited from her dad were her critical thinking and her love for and skill with machines and technology. After she had found out who Satoru was, she had found maps and sketches of the infrastructure of Republic City he had made. She was able to figure out how to read them and used that to her advantage to get around the city quickly through all of its tunnels and short cuts. She could get to anywhere in the city in a matter of minutes. That went on until she was eventually sent to live with her grandparents by her mother Toph."

"That was a pretty interesting story Opal." said Korra. Iroh then walked through the doorway and into the lounge.

"They've almost finished preparing dinner." Iroh said. "Everyone else is already in the dining hall. If you're hungry, you should come too." Korra and her friends then got up and followed Iroh.

* * *

Everyone was now seated and assembled at a very large table in the dining hall of the palace. Seated on one side of the table was Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Opal, Iroh, Izumi, Zuko, Azula, and a few other people from the royal family. Seated on the other side of the table was Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Lin, Pema, Rohan, Meelo, Ikki, Jinora, Kai, Varrick, Zhu Li, and Kiyi, along with her family. Near the corner of the room was Naga, who is eating a meal out of a bowl on the floor and chewing on a bone. Eating next to Naga was Pabu, who did not seem to be too keen on sharing his food with her.

The servants finished setting all of the food onto the table and then left to go and eat at a table in another room. Everyone seated at the table then began to eat their food and converse with each other. The members of the royal family all began to introduce themselves to Korra and her friends and Iroh named them all one by one.

"Sitting across from us at the table is my great aunt Kiyi, along with her husband, their children, and their grandchildren." Iroh said. "Over here by me is my mother Izumi, my father Zhen, my grandfather Zuko, and my great aunt Azula, along with her husband Akairyuu." Korra noticed a gap next to where Zuko was sitting.

"Next to my grandfather Zuko is where my grandmother Mai would be sitting." Iroh said.

"Is she here?" Korra asked.

"No, unfortunately." Zuko said. "She passed away a few years ago."

"I loved my grandmother dearly." Iroh said.

"We all miss Mai Mai." said Kiyi.

"My mother was a very remarkable woman." Izumi said. "She would often take my overly attached son off my hands for me while I worked."

"It must be really lonely now that your wife is gone." said Korra.

"Not exactly." said Zuko. "I still have my daughter and my sisters, as well as some of my old friends."

"Like Katara?" Korra said.

"Yes her too, she's one of my oldest friends still alive." Zuko said. "How is your mother doing these days Tenzin?"

"She's doing fine." Tenzin said. "I've never seen her so happy since the time that my father Aang was still alive."

"That's good to hear." Zuko said. "I often visit her at the South Pole, though I haven't been there in a while. She too has lost her husband and has been feeling grief over it. We usually have tea together and chat with each other about our lives."

"Really now, Zuko? Are you sure that's the only reason you visit her?" said Azula, with a smirk on her face.

"Azula, it's not like that at all." said Zuko, now feeling embarrassed. "We're just friends, that's all. Two friends who are both lonely and have lost their spouses."

"You just made it sound even worse Zuko." Azula said. A few of the members of the royal family then quietly chuckled.

"It kind of reminds me of when I had once loved someone, but then he died." Kya said bluntly.

"Korra, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to open up that can of worms." Mako whispered to Korra. Realizing the awkward situation she had just created, Bolin decided to change the subject.

"So Azula, we met each other earlier today." Bolin said. "Do you have any family of your own?" Bolin noticed that nobody else was sitting next to Azula and her husband.

"Aside from my husband, not really." Azula said. "Well, at least not anymore."

"What do you mean?" Bolin asked.

"I had a daughter once." Azula said. "But she died."

"That must have been terrible." Korra said, coming into the conversation.

"It was a tragedy and it has haunted me since." Azula said. "Her death was one of the things that have changed me throughout my life."

"What was your life like?" asked Bolin. "I've heard many stories about your accomplishments throughout your lifetime."

"My life has been quite eventful, and through it all, I've gone through many changes." Azula said. "When I was a teenager, I was angry and lost. I had always believed that my mother had never loved me, and that had caused me to fall into insanity. It all started to change when I had decided to go with Zuko to help him find our mother, who had been lost to us. We did eventually find her, and that was when I realized that she had really loved me the whole time. I was so distraught with the revelation that I ran away, straight into the forest of the Forgetful Valley, where I became lost. I came across one of the strange, circular lakes in the forest, and when I looked into the water, I saw a reflection of my inner self. I got up to leave but then slipped and fell into the lake and sank to the bottom. When I swam out of the lake, something very strange had happened."

"What was it?" Bolin asked.

"Upon reaching the surface of the lake, I found that I was no longer in the forest, and that somehow, I had ended up in the Spirit World." Azula said. "As it turns out, every so often, those lakes sometimes connect into the Spirit World and someone can actually go there by traveling through them, but this is a rare occurrence and does not happen very often."

"It's like the Spirit Oasis in the North Pole." Korra said. "There are certain places in the world, other than the Spirit Portals, where a path to the Spirit World can temporarily open up, and if someone happens to be there at the right time, they can actually reach the Spirit World from there."

"When I was there, I saw many strange things, like visions, which showed me all of the things that were conflicting my heart. It made me realize my true self, and changed me. After that, I went back the way I came and managed to find my way back to our world. It turns out I was gone much longer than I had thought."

"Me and mother were searching for you for days Azula." Zuko said. "The people of the village of Hira'a had thought that you had been spirited away or something."

"I met back up with my mother, and was finally able to forgive her and reconcile with her and we hugged it out." Azula said. "After that, we all went back to the capital to live together. Soon after, a conflict started with a group known as the New Ozai Society, which we solved and I also reconciled with my two friends Mai and Ty Lee. After that, there was a time of great peace in the Fire Nation. Eventually, Zuko married Mai and the two of us became sisters, and Ty Lee later moved to Kyoshi Island to go live with the Kyoshi Warriors there."

"It sounds like it was a great time for you." Korra said. "You were finally on your way to healing all of the hurts in your life."

"I then wanted to rediscover myself, so I decided to travel the world and see new things." Azula said. "Throughout my travels I gradually became more calm, happy, and relaxed, having gained much wisdom and discovering inner peace. To tell you the truth, I slowly found myself becoming more and more like our Uncle Iroh."

"I actually once met Iroh in the Spirit World." Korra said. "He gave me some great advice that really helped me out."

"You're going to have to tell me how to reach him one day Korra." Zuko said. "I'd really like to see him again."

"Upon returning to the Fire Nation, I was a changed person." Azula said. "That was also when I met my future husband, a man known as Akairyuu of the Red Flame. Most of the men I met in the Fire Nation were afraid of me, remembering my reputation from when I was younger, but not him. He had seen me for what I really was on the inside, a lost and lonely woman. We fell in love and eventually got married, and years later, we had a daughter. Since then, me, Zuko, Kiyi, and all of our families have lived together in peace here in the city. That was until the civil war happened."

"I remember that time well." Iroh said.

"I fought in many battles in the war in order to protect what was left of the Fire Nation and its people. But that was also the last time I ever saw my daughter in person again." Azula said. "At one point, we had gotten into a big argument in which I had said some things that I now regret, and after that she ran away to the Earth Kingdom. We lost touch for a few years, but eventually we started to talk again and heal our relationship, and she would sometimes send me letters. But one day, I received news that she had been killed. I was so heartbroken over her loss, I didn't know what to do with myself. For a long time I was sad and depressed, though eventually the impact of it lessened, but it still hurt me deep down inside. Since then, I've always been a little bit of a grumpy and moody old woman."

"It sounds like your life has been quite a journey." Korra said.

"It has indeed been one." Azula said.

About half an hour passes, with everyone conversing lively with one another and finishing up their meals. Eventually, dinner was over and everyone started to get up and leave to go to bed.

"Well, goodnight everyone." Zuko said. "You younger people might stay up a little bit longer before going to bed, but us old timers are going to sleep now."

Zuko, Azula, Akairyuu, Izumi, Zhen, Kiyi, and her husband all left the dining hall and all went off to their rooms. Those who were left all eventually dispersed one by one until it was just Iroh, Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Naga.

"Well, I'll see you guys in the morning." Iroh said. "Tomorrow we'll be going to the festival."

"I can't wait." Korra said. "It'll be a blast."

With that, Korra and everyone else then left for their rooms and went to bed.


	8. Chapter Eight: The Gathering

It is earlier in the day, just before sunset, in a different part of the Fire Nation. Zaheer and Sanken have now almost reached their destination, after about a day of traveling. They are walking through what looks to be a large industrial complex located at the edge of a modern looking city, situated next to a body of water. The area around them seems to be heavily polluted and surrounded by many metal buildings. Many of them are dilapidated and ruined, and the sky in the surrounding area is noticeably darker with a slightly orange hue due to the air pollution. From the city in the distance, there was the sound of construction and other city noises.

"Are you sure this is the location of the hideout?" Zaheer asked, coming down from the air after scouting the area from above. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to come to this wretched place."

"In the time that you were locked up, we've had to change our hideout a few times." Sanken said. "This industrial complex of the city has been abandoned for a long time, so it's a perfect place to hide. This is one of the last places where anyone would think to look for us, and we can at least make some use of it." The two of them then entered one of the damaged buildings and kept walking until they reached a wall.

"This is one of the many secret ways to get into the hideout." Sanken said. "Specifically, I'm one of the only people who are able to get in from here." He then lifted his arms and made a bending motion with them. The thick metal wall was then split open, revealing a passageway behind it. They entered and as soon as they were inside, Sanken bent the two parts of the wall back into place, returning it to its original appearance.

"So you're our metalbending grand master?" Zaheer said. "That must mean that you were the one who had taught the Red Lotus sentries that applied the metallic poison to the Avatar how to metalbend? Are you from Zaofu like Aiwei was?"

"Yes, I was the one who taught them how to metalbend, but no, I'm not from Zaofu, nor have I ever lived there." Sanken answered. "Don't lump me in with those amateurs."

They made their way down the hallway and then reached a mechanical elevator. They entered, and with a wave of his hand, Sanken caused one of the levers to move and activate the lift, starting it on its course downwards into the part of the complex located underground. After what seemed like several minutes, the elevator finally reached its stop, opening to a part of the complex that seemed well maintained and cleaner than it was on the surface.

Inside the room they entered, there was a large group of people, many of them turning towards the two of them. They were all wearing some form of Red Lotus attire or red clothing, and some of them came over to greet them. Many of them recognized Zaheer, and they greeted each other as if they were old friends. The room was now abuzz with conversation and surprise at the return of Zaheer. Another one of the Red Lotus then approached Zaheer.

"Zaheer? Is that really you?" the man asked.

"Yes, it's me Tensu." Zaheer said. "How have you been?" The two gave each other a quick hug.

"We were worried about you." Tensu said. "You were gone for so long. I'd heard about what happened to Ghazan and Ming Hua, and worst of all, P'li."

"Yes, it was a tragedy." Zaheer said. "We lost three good people that day."

"What about Unalaq?" Tensu asked. "How did he come to meet the fate that he did? He was once a great friend of mine."

"Unalaq died in battle against the Avatar, probably for the best. He had been taken over by the Spirit of Darkness Vattu, and probably never would have been able to return to the way he was before." Zaheer said. "That Unalaq was not the same one we once knew and loved. The real Unalaq died years ago."

"So how does it feel to be back here in the Fire Nation after all these years?" Tensu asked. "It must bring back a lot of painful memories."

"Not as painful as what you and P'li had to go through because of the war." Zaheer said. "Wasn't P'li one of your last remaining relatives?"

"She was my cousin." Tensu answered. "She was also probably one of the last combustion benders left. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't born with the ability to do it, and most of the other combustion benders died in the war."

"Yes, it was a shame what happened to the combustion benders." Sanken said. "It really is a sad thing when rare bending abilities die out. You could probably count all of the remaining combustion benders with the fingers on your hands."

"If not for you Zaheer, me and P'li would never have been able to escape from that warlord's servitude during the war when we were younger." Tensu said. "You gave us a chance at freedom and allowed us to live our lives the way we wanted to.

"But even then, it came at a huge price." Zaheer said. "After you were free, the war left its scars on you and took so much away from you. You almost died. We all thought you were dead." On Tensu's face, there were scars and burn marks, as well as a metal prosthetic plate covering about one third of his face. Underneath his clothes there were probably many other cybernetic replacements and prosthetic parts.

"If we succeed in what we are currently trying to do in the Fire Nation, nobody will ever have to go through something like this again and I will have my revenge on those who did this to me and ruined my life." Tensu said. "The current system will fall, and we will bring about change to this nation."

"It's time. Our leader has called for everyone to gather in the meeting hall." Sanken said. "He will discuss what our plans will be for this operation that we will be doing." The three of them, along with all of the Red Lotus members in the room with them, started to follow the hallway leading out of the room. On their way through the hideout, they passed by what appeared to be a factory and a large hanger of some sort, housing various types of vehicles and weapons, and in the background there were many people who seemed to be hard at work on something. They eventually reached a set of stairs which led down into an audience chamber with a platform at the back. Banners depicting the Red Lotus symbol were hung all around the walls of the room.

Everyone began to stand in horizontal lines, eventually forming a large square of people, with Zaheer, Sanken, and Tensu standing at the front. The lights in the room started to turn on and there was a sound of someone walking onto the platform. There were two people, a very old looking man in a wheelchair, and a woman who was pushing the wheelchair. The old man in the wheelchair looked absolutely ancient, and connected to the chair were what appeared to be various breathing machines and other life support apparatuses. The woman next to him looked to be some sort of nurse or maid, though despite her cute appearance, something about her said that she was hiding the true extent of her skills. The old man was brought close to a microphone on the platform and then began to speak in a very raspy voice.

"Greetings, my fellow members of the Red Lotus. For those of you who have never seen me before, I am your humble leader and founder of the Red Lotus: Xai Bau. Those of you gathered here today are quite possibly the last of our once great order. You are the ones who have stayed loyal and true to our noble purpose until the very end. Everyone else has either died, been captured, or has abandoned our cause. Once, we had many grand masters, but now we only have five if you count myself. The other four are with us here now as well." He gestured to the three in the front row and to the woman standing next to him.

"Tensu, Sanken, Zaheer, Mei-Ling, you are the best that our order now has left. We will have need of all of your skills in order to accomplish what we will be doing within the next few weeks." Xai Bau paused and then continued. "This will quite possibly be our last and greatest mission of all; to rid this nation of the monarchy, thus finally freeing the world from the system of the few ruling over the many. At every turn, it may seem that we have failed at everything we have attempted. But that is actually not true. If you think back on everything we have done, we have succeeded in one way or another. Our original goal was to restore balance to the world by bringing back the spirits. Grand Master Unalaq, though he strayed from our goals and was killed by the Avatar, succeeded in having the Spirit Portals opened and bringing the Spirits back into this world, returning it to the state that is was in before Avatar Wan closed the portals. After that, our goal was to kill the Avatar and bring down the monarchy of the Earth Kingdom." He looked at Zaheer.

"It may seem that Grand Master Zaheer killing the Earth Queen, which led to an even worse ruler taking her place, and his failing to killing the Avatar have turned out to be a disastrous failure, that is not true either. Failing to kill the Avatar has actually proved to be beneficial to our cause in its own way. She was after all, the one who had opened the Spirit Portals, and through Zaheer failing to kill her, we had unintentionally set her on a path to becoming more spiritually connected, removing a dictator from power, opening a new spirit portal, thus strengthening and solidifying the return of the spirits, and somehow managing to make the successor to the Earth Kingdom throne want to abdicate, dismantle the monarchy, and turn the Earth Kingdom into a democracy, finally freeing its people from the rule of tyrants. We may have once wanted to kill her, but letting her live seems to have been more helpful to our cause than killing her. We didn't even have to lift a finger in all of this; she did most of the work for us." He looked to the audience.

"Our original goal of wanting to bring true anarchy to the world now seems like an impossible dream. It doesn't seem like it would work anymore in this modern world, and the fall of the Earth Kingdom monarchy a few years ago has only proved that. However, we of the Red Lotus are constantly changing and adapting with the world, and so too will our goals. So now, our new goal has become the next most viable option, to rid the world of the reign of monarchies and allow the people to rule themselves. If we can at least do that, then perhaps our struggles will have meant something and we will have bettered the world in some way after the Hundred Year War." He paused again and then continued.

"The Fire Nation is now the last bastion of the reign of monarchies. Our final goal will be to rid this nation of its outdated monarchy, whose oppressive and failing policies have led to one of the worst wars in this nation's history: The Fire Nation Civil War. To do this, we must remove the royal family from power, by any means necessary, and that will most likely mean that we will have to assassinate Fire Lord Izumi. In the coming weeks, you will all receive more information on our upcoming plans as we make preparations and our spies gather more intelligence." He looked at Tensu.

"For this plan to succeed, we will need the support of the people. In order to gain their support for our cause, the people will need a champion to rally behind." Xai Bau gestured to Tensu. "I introduce to you my proxy, who will go by my name, and become the Champion of the People; our brother and one of our Grand Masters: Tensu." The audience began to cheer and applaud at Xai Bau's speech and for Tensu.

"One more thing that I must make you all aware of." Xai Bau said. "I was recently informed by one of our spies that earlier today, the Avatar and her friends were spotted in the capital city." Many of the people in the audience then began to whisper among themselves at this new revelation. Tensu then spoke up.

"What should we do about this Founder Xai Bau?" Tensu asked. "What will this mean for us? We are finally about to begin the final stages of our plans, and of all the things to happen, the Avatar shows up right on our doorstep. She could ruin everything we have worked for. Should we have her eliminated to prevent her from getting in the way?"

"Don't be so hasty Grand Master Tensu." Xai Bau said. "If we were to kill the Avatar now, it could end up turning the people of the Fire Nation against us. We will need to handle this very carefully. From what we can tell, she doesn't seem know about us yet, and is here for a different reason that is altogether unrelated to us. For now, we will keep our distance from her and have our spies observe her and her allies from afar. If we can somehow manage to get her and whoever else she is with to leave the Fire Nation, then that would also be great as well and would be a great help to us. The Avatar is very strong, so I would not suggest that any of you directly confront her and attempt to fight her. At this point, we no longer have any reason to kill her anymore. However, if she does find out about our plans and tries to stop us and gets in our way, then we may end up having no choice but to kill her. But I trust that none of you will do anything rash before the time comes. Who knows, since she seems to like helping us in our goals so much, then maybe we can get her to do all of the work for us again." Xai Bau said that last sentence with a sarcastic tone and chuckled a little.

"The purpose behind this first meeting was to gather together whoever is left of our organization and inform you all of our current situation and so that I may assess our remaining forces. Now I must take my leave and rest." Xai Bau said.

Everyone in the room trusted Xai Bau and his words. After having lived for 131 years, he had gained much wisdom and knowledge. He was a master strategist and tactician, as well as a gifted speaker. He knew how to move the hearts and minds of his followers and the people alike, and knew how to pull the strings to make his plans have the desired outcome, even if at first it seems like his plans failed. To him, it was all like playing a game of Pai Sho.

Mei-Ling then began to push Xai Bau's wheelchair away from the platform and down a ramp, after which they disappeared behind a curtain and into a hallway, leading to what was presumably Xai Bau's quarters. After that, the Red Lotus members in the room all began to disperse, leaving only Sanken, Tensu, and Zaheer.

"So what do we do now?" Zaheer asked.

"Tomorrow there is going to be a festival in the capital city." Tensu said. "We've got something special planned for it. If you're still with our cause Zaheer, then come and join us." Mei-Ling then emerged from the hallway she had gone down earlier and joined the three of them.

"Alright, I've taken care of my grandfather and put him to bed." Mei-Ling said. "We should get going now."

"Grandfather?" Zaheer asked, with a confused look.

"Oh, I forgot, you've only ever met her a few times when she was a child, but Mei-Ling is actually Xai Bau's great, great, granddaughter." Tensu said. "She's one of his last remaining family members."

"After my esteemed grandmother passed away when I was younger, he took me in and cared for me ever since." Mei-Ling said.

"So you were named after Avatar Mei-Ling" Zaheer said.

"It's kind of ironic that the festival we are going to is a festival that celebrates an Avatar from the Fire Nation's past that I was named after." Mei-Ling said. "It is actually quite common for people in the Fire Nation to be named after historical figures."

"It's time to head out." Tensu said. "While we are there, we might as well enjoy ourselves and try to have some fun before the real party starts."

Tensu then pulled out a white mask from inside his cloak and put it onto his face. The four of them then started to make their way out of the hideout through one of its other secret entrances, which also had an elevator that led to the surface. They snaked their way through the winding and narrow twists and turns of the industrial complex until they finally reached the road. They then began walking and went on their way to the capital city.


	9. Chapter Nine: Tales of the Festival

It was now noon of the next day, and Korra and her friends were now getting ready to leave for the festival. Everyone from the large group of Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Opal, Naga, Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Lin, Pema, Rohan, Meelo, Ikki, Jinora, Kai, Varrick, and Zhu Li were now gathered in the front of the palace and waiting to set off. Iroh then came out from the palace and joined them.

"Alright, I'm ready to go now." Iroh said.

"This is going to be so much fun." Korra said.

They began walking down the steps and made their way out of the palace and into the city. Along the way, they were joined by Zuko and Kiyi. While going there, they passed by Azula, who was sitting under a cheery blossom tree with a bored expression on her face, and playing some type of stringed instrument.

"Hey auntie Azula, do you want to come with us." Iroh asked her.

"I guess I could." Azula said. "I don't really have much else to do. Akairyuu already went ahead to the festival." She got up and joined them and the group continued walking down the road.

"When I was a little kid, you, Zuko, Kiyi, and Mai used to take me to the festival every year." Iroh said.

"Ah, yes, I remember." Azula said. "You're mother and father were usually busy with work, so the four of us often took you off their hands and looked after you. We sure spoiled you rotten."

They finally reached the downtown area of the city where the festival was taking place and were awestruck by the sight of it. There were decorations everywhere, with many people all around, and near the center there was a parade float of Avatar Mei-Ling, and behind that were two other floats; one of Avatar Han-Jin and one of Avatar Roku.

"Here we are at last." Zuko said. "The Festival of Avatar Mei-Ling."

"I've never seen anything like it before." Bolin said.

They all then entered the festival and went off to do whatever they wanted. There were many games and activities for them to try, as well as many different foods to eat. Korra and Asami played a few festival games in order to win prizes, Mako and Bolin participated in a bending contest with other people, Opal and Bolin went on a date together by the riverside, as did Kai and Jinora, and Varrick and Zhu Li. Tenzin, Pema, Kya, Rohan, Meelo and Ikki flew various kites from the festival they had made. Lin and Bumi have now become more friendly with each other over the past few days, having noticed that they actually have a few things in common with each other, especially the fact that they had once loved someone who had left them for someone else. The festivities continued until nighttime approached and then all of the city lights began to turn on.

* * *

**Korra and Asami's Tale**

In the night, Korra and Asami were taking a walk down the road following the river until they came across something interesting. At a spot on the bank of the river, there were groups of people who were lighting paper lanterns and setting them afloat down the river. They became curious and decided to see for themselves what all of this was about. Sitting there by the riverside handing out the paper lanterns was a man with a short beard, dressed in the attire of a monk, and wearing a conical straw hat. They walk up to him to ask him about this festival activity.

"Excuse me Mr. Monk." Asami said. "We were wondering, what is all of this going on here at this activity."

"These here are the Lanterns of Love." said the monk. "Couples would take a lantern and light it together. They would then set it afloat down the river to symbolize the tides of their love carrying them away." Korra and Asami looked around and noticed that most of the people lighting the lanterns were couples. "This tradition is based on the story of how Avatar Mei-Ling and her lover would send paper lanterns and ornaments afloat down the river as a way of communicating their love for each other."

"That sounds very romantic." said Asami. Korra then looked at the monk.

"Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" Korra asked the monk. "You look kind of familiar."

"You must be mistaken." said the monk, now sweating a little. "I've never seen you before in my life. You probably have me confused with somebody else."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Korra said. "You just remind me of someone I've met before. What is your name anyway?"

"My name is Monk Gyatsuboro." the monk said. Asami then picked up a lantern.

"Hey Korra, why don't we light one together?" Asami asked.

"Sure, let's do it." Korra said.

Together, they carried the lantern over to the edge of the river and set it down onto the water. They lit it and set it afloat down the river. The monk then appeared next to them and set a lantern of his own into the river, lighting it and sending it down the river as well.

"Where is the other person who would have lit that lantern with you?" Korra asked.

"She is no longer alive." the monk said. "I'm lighting that one for her."

* * *

**Mako's Tale**

Mako was sitting by himself at a bench in the park where part of the festival was taking place at. He looked all around and all he saw were couples together, including his friends. He noticed Korra and Asami together, Bolin and Opal together, Varrick and Zhu Li together, Kai and Jinora together, and Tenzin and Pema together along with their family of Rohan, Meelo, Ikki, and Jinora. With them were Kya, Bumi, and Lin, who all seemed to be having a great time. Iroh was there as well, and there was a large group of woman surrounding him, most likely hoping to gain the affections of the Fire Prince.

It was really awkward for Mako, noticing that he was the only one alone. The only other company with him now was Naga, who was lying on the ground next to him and scratching herself. Not wanting to be reminded of this anymore, Mako got up and left to go to another part of the festival. He kept walking until he came upon a fascinating sight. There was a group of performers who were doing some kind of dance that involved a lot of acrobatics. One of the performers, a woman wearing facepaint, seemed to be putting all of the other performers to shame with her skills. Mako watched in awe at her beauty and skills until the performance was over. When it finished, all of the performers left and the people in the crowd dispersed. The only person that was left now was the woman, who noticed Mako and walked up to him.

"Hello there." the woman said to Mako. "So, what did you think of my performance?"

"It was incredible." Mako said. "Where did you learn to move like that?"

"My grandmother taught me when I was a little girl." the woman said. "If you can't tell by the facepaint, I'm from Kyoshi Island. I grew up there and learned all sorts of things from the Kyoshi Warriors."

"So you're a Kyoshi Islander?" Mako asked.

"Not quite." said the woman. "My parents were from the Fire Nation, but I was mostly raised on Kyoshi Island. By the way, my name is Hitsumi. What's your name, handsome?"

"I'm Mako." said Mako, now blushing a little bit.

"Tell me a little about yourself Mako. said Hitsumi. "It's not often that I get admirers." The two then stayed and talked with each other for a little bit. Hitsumi then looked to the clock tower in the distance in the city. "It seems that I have to be going now. Time sure does fly when you're having fun. Bye Mako, maybe we'll meet again someday."

"Goodbye Hitsumi." said Mako, as he watched her walking away to wherever she was going. He wondered to himself why he had felt such warmth in his heart when he was with her, and now it is gone.

* * *

**Bolin's Tale**

Bolin and Opal had so far been enjoying their date together during the festival. They were passing by many shops lining the road leading through the festival.

"I'm going to go check out those souvenir shops Bolin." Opal said. "You can come with me if you want, but you don't have to."

"It's fine, you can go on ahead without me." Bolin said. "I'm going to check out some of those activities nearby."

"Okay then, I'll meet back up with you in about two hours." Opal said.

"Here, take Pabu with you." said Bolin. "He seems to be getting tired of all this walking around."

He handed Pabu over to her and she began to carry him in her arms. Opal and Bolin then began to go towards the things that they were interested in.

Bolin was looking around at the various games and contests and then one of them caught his eye. It seemed to be some sort of bending contest going on between a group of people. He noticed that they were all earthbenders. One of them then walked out of the small arena, after having been defeated. Bolin went over to the arena to get a closer look at what was going on. Inside the ring was a young teenage boy, who was most likely the opponent who had beaten the earthbender who had just left. All of the other earthbenders on the outside of the arena were speaking to each other in fear and disbelief."

"This is unbelievable." said one of them. "That kid has beaten every one of us."

"Anyone else want to volunteer to fight me?" said the boy inside the arena. Bolin was then come over with the sudden urge to participate in a match.

"I'll fight you." said Bolin.

"Are you sure about this?" one of the earthbenders in the group said. "He may look like just a kid, but he's really good."

"This will be a good opportunity for me to get some practice." Bolin said. He then entered the arena and got ready to fight his opponent.

"So you're next?" said the boy in the arena. "Okay then, let's see what you've got." Bolin and the boy then began their match, each earthbending at the other with great skill. The boy then hurled some rooks at Bolin, and as each of those rocks came near Bolin, they crumbled apart and turned into sand.

"Making rocks crumble into sand? That's not an easy thing to do." the boy said. "Looks like you've got some skill, but I can do that too." Bolin hurled some rocks back at the boy, and he too made them crumble away into sand as they got near him.

The fight continued for about a few minutes until eventually, Bolin was sent flying into the air when the boy used earthbending on the ground under Bolin's feet to shoot him upward. As Bolin was falling to the ground, he used earthbending to make the ground where he would land protrude upward, and then he made that protrusion crumble into a pile of sand, which he then landed on, cushioning his fall.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever met an earthbender as good as you before." Bolin said. "I'm Bolin. What's your name? Two combatants usually learn each other's names before fighting."

"My name is Sanbei." said the boy. "I guess this means I win the prize." He held up a fist-sized, metallic trophy. "You can have it though, I don't really want it. I just wanted to test my skills." He then gave the trophy to Bolin. The two of them sat down at a nearby table to rest and started to talk.

"So how did you get to be so good at earthbending Sanbei?" Bolin asked. "It usually takes years for most earthbenders to achieve earthbending like yours."

"I guess you could call me a prodigy of sorts. I'm also a fast learner." Sanbei said. "I have always been training and practicing. Earthbending is my whole life. It's almost like an obsession."

"What made you want to push yourself so hard to become this good?" asked Bolin.

"I guess it was out of a desire to become strong and overcome a disability." Sanbei said. "I was born weak, and have always been lacking in physical strength. My mother used to always have to carry me around on her back when I was a child because I used to have trouble walking on my own. That was until the day I heard about Toph Beifong. Hearing stories about her and how she was able to overcome her disability of blindness inspired me to try and do the same for my disability. As I was slowly able to walk on my own, I began practicing earthbending every day. I trained harder and harder, learning everything I could. I've traveled the Earth Kingdom, learning all kinds of styles of earthbending, learning from all kinds of different masters, and learning many different techniques of earthbending. Sandbending, metalbending, seismic sensing, I've learned them all. I can even tell if someone's lying if I take off my shoes to increase the strength of my seismic sensing. I even once observed badgermoles and learned from them by watching their moves. By observing them, I learned a fundamental truth about earthbending."

"What would that be?" Bolin asked.

"How is it that badgermoles can feel vibrations and use that to see and what is it that makes rocks and metal move when we bend them?" Sanbei said. "Magnetism. Though when we are earthbending and metalbending, we don't normally notice it because the magnetism's effect is so small. If you were to use this magnetism to your advantage and learn how to control it, you can do some crazy things with earthbending. Magnetism is the main component of metalbending. When I amplify the magnetism when I'm bending, my metalbending becomes very powerful. However it takes a lot of skill and mastery over earthbending in order to be able to control the strength of the push and pull of the magnetism in earthbending. It can't be done by just any earthbender."

"You were able to figure all of that out?" Bolin said. "Toph must have realized the same thing when she discovered metalbending."

"Isn't it strange that despite the fact that metal has been around for thousands of years, that nobody before Toph had thought of trying to bend it?" Sanbei asked.

"That might be because up until that point, metal wasn't being used in as large of a quantity as it was." Bolin said.

"I've heard many stories from the ancient past, and in some of them, the people in them could have accidentally metalbended and not realized what they did." Sanbei said. "There was one story in particular where an earthbender boy was sitting in a town square one day next to a bronze statue of an emperor. He experienced an emotional fit and after it passed, he realized that the statue now had a big bulge in it. He had no idea how it had happened, and wondered if he had been the one who did it. The townspeople all wondered how it happened, and none of them believed the boy's story about how he did it, saying it was impossible. He tried and tried to do it again, but no matter what, he couldn't do it again and then everyone thought he was lying. Ironically, that actually ended up saving his life. The emperor had decreed that whoever had damaged his statue would be put to death. The boy was one of the people who were suspects in the case and was brought to trial. Since he was unable to do it again, he was dismissed and found innocent, the people believing that the true culprit had never been found and that it was the work of a spirit. Though some people may have done it by mistake in the past, Toph was the first one to actually discover what metalbending was."

"History seems to just be full of stories of interesting benders." Bolin said. "So, can you lavabend?"

"Unfortunately, that's one something I've never been able to do, no matter how hard I tried." Sanbei said. "I guess I just wasn't born with the ability to do it."

"Well I can lavabend." Bolin said. "Take a look at this." Bolin then pointed at a small rock on the ground. He made a bending motion and the rock began to melt.

"That's so cool!" Sanbei said with extreme excitement. "I just love meeting rare benders. I just can't help myself, rare bending abilities fascinate me. That most likely means one of your parents or grandparents was an earthbender and the other was a firebender."

"Really, that's what causes people to be born with lavabending? My dad was an earthbender and my mom was from the Fire Nation." Bolin said.

"Well, not really." Sanbei said. "Nobody is really sure exactly what causes people to be born with lavabending, but currently, that is one of the prevailing theories. There seem to be certain bending abilities that just can't be learned and you can only be born with. Unlike metalbending, lightning bending, and bloodbending, which can be learned, lavabending seems to have some sort of hereditary or genetic factor to it. The only exception to this is the Avatar, who naturally should be able to do it since they can bend all of the elements. It is believed that lavabending occurs when a firebender and an earthbender have children or descendants. There are many tales throughout history of benders of two different elements having descendants who develop strange and seemingly unnatural abilities, many of which have been lost to history. Some special bending techniques could be the result of a fusion of two elements, but that doesn't mean that bender is able to bend both of those elements. They can only bend one element, while the second element in their bloodline is what provides the catalyst for awakening their unique bending ability. It also only seems to affect only one of the two elements while having no effect on the other."

"What do you mean?" Bolin asked.

"Lavabending seems to only be inherited by earthbenders born to a mixed heritage of earthbenders and firebenders, but not firebenders with the same heritage, and it doesn't seem to give them any unique abilities or affect them in any way. In simplified terms, if you have any siblings that are earthbenders, than they could possibly learn to lavabend as well due to their heritage of two elements, but if you have any siblings that are firebenders, then they can't manifest the ability even though they also have a heritage of two elements. It only affects one side of the elemental coin. Also, another theory as to what causes these mixed bending abilities is that they were the result of benders of one element studying benders of another element and applying what they learned to their own element. However, most of what is known so far seems to point to the first theory. But then again, if you look at the bigger picture, all the elements are connected in some way."

"I guess that's one thing I can do that my brother can't." Bolin said.

"There's only one other sub-bending skill that I know of that is like this and cannot be learned unless you are born with it, and that still has benders of it who are around today." Sanbei said.

"What would that be?" Bolin asked.

The style of bending used by the combustion benders." Sanbei said. "There were once many of them, but after the war, only a handful remain."

"I once saw one." Bolin said. "Their bending felt so different from regular firebending."

"They were a strange bunch." Sanbei said. "The story goes that in the distant past of the Fire nation, a clan or tribe of firebenders had intermarried with some of the airbenders from the Western Air Nomad lands and that their children and descendants were the first combustion benders. This combination of firebender and airbender heritage had awakened a new bending ability. The benders with this ability could produce hotter flames from the surrounding air and could also make their flames explode and shoot out wildly by using air. Then, they learned how to channel this ability to a certain point on their bodies and fire it out in a concentrated blast, increasing its deadliness. Like lavabending, combustion benders are not bending two elements, only one. They are bending fire, but their airbender heritage allows them to unlock this unique bending ability. Also just like with lavabending, it only works with one side of the coin. Firebenders with a mixed heritage of firebenders and airbenders can use it, but airbenders with the same mixed heritage cannot use it, at least to my knowledge. There are so few airbenders at this point, and in the past they were all almost wiped out, that nobody is really sure what affect firebender heritage might have on their bending because of how rarely that happened.

"You sure seem to know a lot about bending." Bolin said. "You also seem to talk a lot too."

"It's a hobby of mine. I can't help it when I get excited about it." Sanbei said. "I used to read and research about stuff like this all the time. I also love to read about great benders from the past, like Toph and Avatar Kyoshi, who were known for their powerful earthbending. Also there was Avatar Han-Jin, who like you had learned to lavabend. There's an interesting story about something he tried to do. He once attempted to destroy Sozin's Comet, at the time called the Great Comet, when it had passed by our world in his lifetime. He feared that the power it granted had the potential to be misused sometime in the future, and after making a bet with one of his friends, he attempted to pull it out of the sky with his bending and destroy it. Needless to say, his quest was foolish from the beginning and he was unable to make even the slightest dent in the comet, only managing to offset its course slightly. No matter how strong of a bender someone is, there are just some things that you can't do on your own or even in a group. That is one bet that he definitely lost."

"An Avatar once tried something like that?" Bolin said. "I guess there are some things that even the Avatar can't do."

"There's one other Avatar of note whose abilities I greatly admire." Sanbei said. "Avatar Jeng Fu, an Avatar of the Earth Kingdom, and also the Avatar who came before Han-Jin. He too was a masterful earthbender. About 1000 years ago, he sealed away the spirit of the evil king Hundun in the Spirit World, freeing the Earth Kingdom from the reign of a tyrant king." He paused and then looked at Bolin. "To tell you the truth, I'm actually kind of jealous of the Avatar. They can bend all of the elements and learn every single type of bending. That's something I've only ever dreamed of."

"There's one thing I must admit Sanbei." Bolin said. "Despite all of my skill with earthbending, and even being able to lavabend, I still can't metalbend. I've tried and tried but just can't seem to get it. I'm beginning to think that my lavabending could be interfering with my ability to metalbend and is preventing from doing it."

"It's not." Sanbei said. "Someone as good as you are at earthbending should definitely be able to do it. You just need to look at it from the right angle."

"I've tried many angles, and none of them have seemed to work." Bolin said.

"How is it then that you are able to make rocks crumble away into sand then?" Sanbei asked.

"That's just a new move I learned recently." Bolin said. "What does it have to do with metalbending?"

"The very fact that you are able to do that means you should also be able to metalbend as well." Sanbei said. "Bolin, tell me how you are able to make the rocks turn into sand."

"It's not that hard." Bolin said "All I have to do is feel all of the tiny pieces of earth in the rock and then force them all apart from each other, causing the rock to crumble."

"Exactly." Sanbei said. "That how you metalbend. You feel the tiny pieces of earth within the metal. You feel the push and pull of them as you bend them into whatever form you want." Bolin then had a look of realization on his face.

"How could I not see it before?" Bolin said. "It was something that simple?"

"It's not only that, but it also seems that you might have a mental block." Sanbei said. "You also need to believe in yourself and believe that you can do it. Leave behind your feelings of inadequacy." He then held out the trophy from earlier and put it on the table. "Try and metalbend this. You don't even have to make it into any shape. Just make it move, even just a little bit."

"Okay, I'll try." Bolin said. Bolin held out his hand and attempted to bend it, now possessing new knowledge and having cleared his mind. After about a minute of focusing and trying, the object shifted slightly. "Did you see that!? It moved!" He then tried again, and again it moved slightly.

"See, now you're getting the hang of it." Sanbei said. "Just start out slow and work your way up. Eventually you'll get better with practice."

"Thank you so much for teaching me this." Bolin said. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to learn how to do that."

"The rest is on you now." Sanbei said. "I've only started you on your path." Sanbei then picked up the trophy and metalbended it into two pieces, which he then formed into bracelets. "Here, take these. Something to remember this by. You can keep one for yourself and the other you can give to someone special if you'd like. I really must be going now. I have somewhere I need to be right now."

"Goodbye Sanbei." Bolin said. "I'll never forget this." They waved goodbye to each other and then went their separate ways. Bolin walked back to where he as supposed to meet Opal and found her there.

"Where have you been?" Opal asked. "I got a few souvenirs from the shops."

"Oh, I was in an earthbending contest." Bolin said, and then had an idea. "Here Opal, I've got something for you too." He handed her one of the bracelets, which he put on her wrist. He then he put the other one on his wrist. "See, they match."

"How sweet of you Bolin. It's very pretty." said Opal. "Thanks." The two of them then started to walk down the road to see what else there was at the festival.

Bolin began thinking to himself. He had to try it one more time, just to make sure it really happened and that it wasn't just a fluke. As Opal was walking in front of his, he focused on the bracelet on her wrist and made a bending motion. It shook slightly, causing Opal to swat at her wrist, thinking that a bug might have landed on her. Bolin smiled to himself, knowing that it really happened.

* * *

**Zuko, Azula, and Kiyi's Tale**

Zuko, Azula, and Kiyi were now in what appeared to be some sort of gravesite or memorial near the palace. The three of them are standing in front of an altar, on top of which were a few portraits and sticks of incense that have been lit. Zuko looked at one of the pictures, which was a picture of Mai.

"Now we light one for Mai." Zuko said, lighting a stick of incense and placing it in front of Mai's portrait.

"Then we light one for mom." Kiyi said. "I miss her." Kiyi lit a stick of incense and placed it in front of a portrait of Ursa.

"We miss her too." said Zuko. "Also one for your father Kiyi." He lit another stick of incense and placed it in front of a portrait of Kiyi's father Ikem.

"For Uncle Iroh we light one too." Azula said, lighting another stick of incense and placing it in front of a portrait of Iroh.

"Even one for dad too, despite everything." Zuko said, also lighting a stick of incense and placing it in front of a portrait of Ozai. "Last but not least, we'll light one for your daughter Haruko."

Azula lit the final stick of incense and placed it in front of the portrait of her deceased daughter. Tears then began to fall from Azula's eyes. Zuko and Kiyi then came in close and hugged her.

"Don't blame yourself Azula." Zuko said. "It's not your fault. It definitely won't heal the wound in your heart. Now let's go home."

The three of them then began walking away together and went on their way back to the palace.


	10. Chapter Ten: The Red Lotus Strikes

Korra and her friends were still enjoying themselves at the festival, which had gone on into the night. They were now watching some sort of performance being put on by a group of fire dancers and some of them were participating in a challenge to run over hot coals while barefooted. After that, they moved on to the next area, where there was a game of fire jump rope going on in order to win a prize.

"Fire jump rope? This should be easy." Mako said. "After all, fire is my natural element." Mako then went over to the fiery rope and started to jump each time the rope passed under his feet. After about five jumps, the rope tripped Mako's feet and caused him to fall face first into the ground.

"What was that about it being easy?" Korra asked sarcastically. "I thought fire was your _"natural element"_."

"Wow Mako, you did even worse than when I tried to ride the mechanical bull earlier." Bolin said.

"It turns out that it's actually much harder than it looks." Mako said.

"Alright then, I'm going to try it." Korra said. She walked over to the rope and started to jump. After about ten jumps, she slipped and got whipped in the legs by the rope. She then walked away and went back to Mako. "Okay, it is harder than it looks."

One by one Korra's friends all tried to see who could do it. Bolin and Asami did not have any better luck at it either and both failed as well. Tenzin and Bumi both tried and ended up embarrassing themselves in front of the crowd of people watching, who had just seen two grown men fall on their butts after trying. Lin, Pema, Rohan, and Kya did not want to participate and just sat it out. Varrick tried as well and ended up tripping and cursing his own clumsiness. The only ones among Korra's friends who were able to do it were Opal, Kai, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and surprisingly Zhu Li.

"It looks like it was the airbenders who won." Bolin said. "It must be because they're quick on their feet, and Zhu Li, is just Zhu Li."

After the airbenders claimed their prizes, the group then made their way back towards the central city square. They looked at the clocktower in the distance; it was almost 9:00. It reached 9:00 and the clock tower began to chime. Around the city square, miniature fireworks went off and papers began to fall from the sky. On each of those papers was an image of a red lotus flower and various anti-monarchy messages and propaganda.

"Is this part of the festival?" Korra asked, watching as the people in the town square seemed just as confused as she was by what had just happened.

Then, in the distance of the city, there was a large, fiery explosion. The people nearby began to panic and scream, terrified by what was happening.

"Look, there's someone standing at the top of the clock tower." said one of the panicked citizens.

Looking up to where they were pointing, Korra saw that there was a figure standing at the very top ledge of the clock tower. He was wearing a black cloak and on his face was a white mask.

"That must be Xai Bau." Korra said. "Is he responsible for this?"

The person at the top of the clock tower then walked off the ledge and began to run down the wall of the tower. When he was about halfway down and had run out of momentum to carry himself, he jumped off from the wall and was sent flying to the ground. When he finished falling through the air, he landed feet first on the ground and left a small crater around him. He then got up and started to run away, disappearing into the city.

"Did you just see that?" asked Bolin. "How did he do that and not die from the fall?"

"Should we do something?" Mako asked. "A lot of people could have been hurt in that explosion."

"Asami, Kya, Opal, Ikki, Meelo, Kai, you should go and check out the site of the explosion." Korra said. "If there are people there that are injured or trapped, we need to get them to safety."

"What about Xai Bau?" Mako asked. "Should we go after him?"

"I think we should try and catch him." Korra said. "Even if it isn't really our business to get involved, if the Red Lotus really is behind this, then we have to do something about it. We can't let Xai Bau get away and hurt anymore people. Mako, Bolin, come with me and we'll go after him. Jinora, you should come too. We'll need your help in locating him."

"I'll go and make sure that Firelord Izumi is safe." Lin said. "If this is the work of the Red Lotus, then they will most likely go after her. Tenzin, Bumi, come with me. We'll go and meet up with Lord Zuko and Lady Azula back at the palace."

"Alright then, let's get moving." said Korra. With that, everyone went off to their respective mission.

* * *

About half an hour later, Mako and Bolin were speeding down the streets of the capital city in a car they had borrowed from Iroh. Following behind them in the distance was Jinora, who was gliding through the air, and Korra, who was riding on Naga through the streets. The car radio was on and a report was being broadcast about the incident from earlier.

"About thirty minutes ago, there was an explosion at a government office on Piandao Avenue of the capital city." said the voice on the radio. "It is believed that the act was the work of terrorists connected to the anti-monarchy movement of the Fire Nation. Stand by for more updates soon."

"He should be somewhere around here according to Jinora." Mako said. "She saw him run here when she used her astral projection."

"There he is." Bolin said. "He's running along the train tracks by the river."

Mako then drove the car onto a bridge running alongside the train tracks. They could hear the sound of a train travelling on the tracks ahead of them. The man kept going and eventually caught up to the train, running alongside it, and was even to keep up with its speed until the train took a turn and went down a different set of tracks.

"That's insane." Bolin said. "He was able to match the speed of the train while running. There's no way this guy can be human."

He then makes it to the bank of the river and continues his escape. Mako drives the car down to the river bank in an attempt to cut him off and stops. He and Bolin get out of the car and head towards the direction the masked man would be coming from. They notice that they are the only ones there so far and that Korra and Jinora haven't caught up yet. Running out of the darkness, they finally see the man approach.

"Stop right there Xai Bau." Mako said. "We're taking you and any other Red Lotus members into custody."

He ignored them and just passed them by. Mako and Bolin then begin bending towards him and they got his attention. Xai Bau turned around and headed towards them, and a fight between them ensued. Bolin begins to hurl rocks at him and then tries to create a wall of earth nearby in an attempt to box him in. He then reached Bolin and the two began to fight each other in hand to hand combat.

Xai Bau moved with incredible speed, and Bolin was having a hard time keeping up with his movements and guarding. Eventually, Xai Bau found an opening and landed several punches and kicks on Bolin, who was knocked into the sand. Xai Bau then dodged a burst of fire that came from his side. Mako now came to Bolin's aide and attempted to fight him off.

He then began firebending at Mako as well, and the two continuously fired blasts at each other as they made their way closer to the water. Seeing an opportunity, Mako made a bending motion with both of his arms and began to charge up some lightning. He held out his left arm and shot out a blast of lightning towards Xai Bau. He dodged and charged towards Mako. After about a few seconds of firing lightning, Mako's arm began to shake and twitch violently. The lightning disappeared and his arm fell limply to his side, completely numb.

"No, why does this have to happen now of all times!?" Mako said, cursing his luck. Xai Bau reached Mako and right as he got close to him, he made a great leap into the air. Before he could react, he had already passed over Mako and was about to land behind him. Before he reached the ground, he sent Mako flying straight into the river with a strong kick to the back.

Xai Bau then tried to make a run for it, but was stopped by a blast of air in front of him. Korra and Jinora had now arrived at the scene to assist Mako and Bolin. The two of them then entered the fight against Xai Bau and threw several bending attacks at him. Brushing them off easily, Xai Bau sent several fire blasts towards Korra and Jinora, who both blew them away with airbending.

Xai Bau paused and then stared at the two of them through his mask. He lifted up one his arms and pointed it towards the direction of Korra and Jinora. Before they knew it, a huge gust of air was shot at them, sending them flying backwards, having taken them by surprise.

"What!? That was airbending." Korra said to Jinora, both of them getting up from the ground. "Firebending and airbending? That's impossible."

They continued fighting and firing blasts of air at each other. With one of the blasts, he got Jinora and sent her crashing into a nearby flood wall. It was now just Korra against Xai Bau. Korra then began to waterbend the water from the nearby river and attacked him with it. She turned some of the water into icicles and fired them at Xai Bau, who dodged the with several acrobatic moves. Korra then waterbended a large wave of water and sent it towards him.

As it was coming towards him, Xai Bau firebended a large blast of fire towards the wave of water. As the fire hit the wave, the water evaporated and produced a large amount of steam and mist. Korra could barely see her surroundings, and when the mist finally cleared after about a minute, she looked around and noticed that Xai Bau was now gone.

"He got away." Korra said, now agitated.

She then looked around to see how everyone else was doing. Jinora had regained her senses after being slammed into the wall and was heading towards Korra. Mako was swimming back to the riverbank and got out of the water, and Bolin was picking himself up off the ground. After that, they both headed towards Korra.

"Is everyone alright?" Korra asked.

"I'm okay." Bolin said. "His punches and kicks really hurt though."

"I'm also alright, but my back is a little sore." Mako said.

"Same here." said Jinora.

"How is it that he was able to bend both fire and air?" Korra asked.

"I don't know." Jinora said. "I'm not even sure if it was airbending. It may have looked like airbending, but something about it felt different; like it was spiritually disconnected. It felt so unnatural. I just can't explain it."

"What are we going to do now?" Mako asked. "He got away."

"Not yet at least." Korra said. "I think I might know where he's heading to."

"Where would that be?" asked Mako.

"To the royal palace." Korra said. "He might try to go after Firelord Izumi while he has the chance. There's also the possibility that he might have accomplices with him. If that's the case, the we should hurry back to the palace where Lin and the others are." The four of them then took off and headed towards their destination.

* * *

Lin was waiting in the front area of the royal palace. Behind her in the other room was Firelord Izumi, Zuko, Tenzin, Bumi, and a few other people. Around her were several Fire Nation soldiers, all dressed in advanced, slightly futuristic looking, full body armor, complete with a helmet, visor, and a breathing apparatus at the mouth-part of the helmet.

Somewhere near the outside of the palace, there was an explosion at a building. The Fire Nation soldiers all rushed outside to see what had happened. Upon reaching the courtyard, they found two people, a woman dressed in a kimono, wearing facepaint, and a teenage boy dressed in the attire of a typical earthbender.

"Who are you two? Identify yourselves." said one of the soldiers. "Are you lost and here by mistake?"

Inside the palace, Lin felt the ground shake, as if a small earthquake had just happened. She rushed outside to see what had happened and found about half of the soldiers lying on the ground, and the rest of them fighting the woman and the boy. The woman had pulled out two iron fan-like weapons from her kimono and was now fighting the soldiers with them as well as using various martial arts moves. She then started to make several quick jabs with her fingers at various parts of the soldier's bodies and their limbs all started to fall limp.

"Look out, she's a chi blocker." one of the soldiers said to Lin, before being struck down.

The ground then shook again, causing many of the other soldiers to fall over. Lin looked to the boy who was with the woman. She could feel that he was most likely the one who was causing it. She then began to earthbend at the boy, but he was able to bend away every rock she hurled at him.

"So you will be my opponent then?" the boy said. "Why don't you come closer so we can meet in person?" The boy made a bending motion and then Lin could feel herself being strongly pulled towards him by her armor. She tried to escape his grip, but it was too strong. She then found herself being tossed around through the air, as if he was playing with her, and then she was hurled like a rag-doll into one of the pillars at the front of the palace.

"I've never seen metalbending that powerful before." Lin said to herself as she was on the ground, slumped against the pillar and in pain.

After having finished with the soldiers, the woman and the boy then walked past Lin and continued on into the palace. A few seconds later, someone else then appeared in the courtyard, a masked figure, who ran past Lin and followed after the other two. The three intruders looked around the empty lobby area for signs of anyone.

"What took you so long?" the boy asked the masked man.

"I had a run in with the Avatar and her friends, but I had already destroyed the government office before then. Did you two manage to do your jobs and get rid of it?" the masked man asked the woman and the boy.

"Yes, we destroyed all of the records." said the woman.

"That's good." said the masked man. "Now they'll have a harder time tracing us and there's less evidence for them to find. Where is the canal where we're supposed to meet at?"

"If the records archive was right next to the palace, then that means that the way there is somewhere through here." said the boy. "It's just our rotten luck that we have to go through here first in order to reach it. It's near the other side of the palace."

"This seems like a perfect opportunity." said the masked man. "Should we go ahead and kill Firelord Izumi and the rest of the royal family while we're here? They're so close, only a few rooms away."

"No. Don't let your personal desire for vengeance cloud your judgment." said the boy. "We did what we were supposed to do. Now it's time for us to make our escape. If we stop to do something that wasn't part of the plan, then we might screw up and end up getting ourselves captured. We have to get going now before reinforcements arrive. Don't worry though; the time to kill her will come soon enough in the near future."

Suddenly, there was a huge blast of fire that shot towards the group, who noticed it and got out of the way just in time. Standing at one of the doorways were two people, Azula and her husband Akairyuu.

"More of them?" said the boy. "It looks like it's Lady Azula and Akairyuu of the Red Flame."

"Stop right there Xai Bau. You'll have to go through us first if you want to get to Izumi." Azula said.

"It looks like I'll get to kill one of them today afterall." said Xai Bau.

The two of them then started to firebend towards the group. Azula shot her blue flames at them and Akairyuu shot his red flames. The group scattered and ran to different parts of the room in order to escape the flames while Xai Bau returned fire with his own flames.

"How ironic. A blue dragon and a red dragon." said the boy, laughing. "Even your names complement each other."

As they dodged Azula's flames, many of the metal decorations in the room began to melt because of how hot her fire was. She then began to charge some lighting and then shot it out of her fingertips. Xai Bau then appeared from behind a pillar he had been using as cover and then began to fire lighting at Azula as well, after having charged it. The two dodged each other's lightning and redirected it back and forth at one another until they stopped, seeing that a large amount of smoke had been created from the arcing of the electric charges.

"So that's how it's going to be then? Evenly matched at lightning?" Azula said. "Try and see if you can match this."

Azula began charging lighting into her hand, which was then condensed into a sphere, which then became brighter and turned a whitish-yellow color. When it was ready, she hurled the sphere of energy towards Xai Bau, who got out of the way and ducked behind a pillar. The orb hit several pillars and eventually the wall at the other side of the room, having melted a hole straight through all of them. Xai Bau noticed that a small portion of his mask had been nicked by the orb and had been melted clean off.

"Plasma, quite dangerous. I guess I'll have to be more careful." Xai Bau said. "I almost forgot, lightning is a form of plasma afterall, so it shouldn't be surprising that someone of your skill and experience would be able to convert it and change its form like that. You were greatly feared during the war because of this particular bending ability."

"You should still fear me now." Azula said.

She then began firing several more orbs of plasma in the direction of Xai Bau, who ran up the pillar he was hiding behind and began to jump from pillar to pillar as he avoided them. The orbs hit several places in the room, causing massive damage and melting everything they touched, and one of them created a large hole in the wall of the palace. Xai Bau landed on the ground and then from the upper levels of the palace, someone appeared. It was Kiyi, who swung down on a long curtain to reach the floor below. In her other hand, she was holding what looked to be a pole-arm of some sort, most likely something that she just took from a display on the wall.

"Don't worry big sister, I'm coming to help you." Kiyi said.

She landed and then rushed towards the woman, who was making her way closer to Azula. The two of them began fighting with each other, each dodging the other and attacking with the weapons they held in their hands. Kiyi made several quick jabs towards the woman with her pole-arm, which she dodged as well.

"For someone your age, you're able to keep up with me pretty well." said the woman.

"I wouldn't underestimate my sister Kiyi if I were you." said Azula. "She may not be a bender, but she's definitely fierce."

"So you're not a bender either?" said the woman? "I guess were both on an even playing field." The two of them then continued to fight.

"There's something vaguely familiar about that woman's fighting style." said Azula, who was watching the two of them fight.

Then, four new people entered the room and joined the fight, two from the other room and two from the palace entrance. The two who came from the other room were Tenzin and Bumi, and the two who came from outside were Lin and Korra.

"This is getting out of hand." said the boy. "It's time to get out of here."

Xai Bau then fired out a blast of air which spread out all around him and knocked any nearby opponents back. He then charged up a bolt of lightning and fired it towards one of the light fixtures on the ceiling. The light overloaded and shattered, which then created an overload in the electrical system, causing the power for the entire palace to go out. It was now dark in the room, with everyone being unable to see more than a few feet in front of them.

"Follow me you two." the boy said to the other two in his group. "I'll find the way out using my seismic sensing."

"That's it." Korra said. "Lin, let's use seismic sensing to find them." Korra and Lin then made a bending motion and set their feet down onto the ground really hard in order to sense the surrounding environment.

"That's strange." Lin said. "I can sense the woman and the boy clearly, but I can barely feel anything from the masked man. Is he even alive?"

"I'm just a beginner at this." said Korra. "I can't feel anything at all coming from him."

Korra and Lin ran after the group in the direction they had last seen them going in. They followed them down several hallways and set of stairs that led to the lower levels of the palace. They eventually reached what appeared to be a massive cellar and storage room, with minimal lighting from a few small candles, and an exit that appeared to lead outside into the night.

Lin then found herself being attacked in the dark and managed to block it. She was now fighting hand to hand with the masked man Xai Bau as they were throwing various punches and kicks at each other. With each punch and kick, Lin examined the man with her seismic sensing. One arm was made of metal parts, and so was the other. Both of his legs were also made of metal parts, as was most of his body.

Suddenly, Lin felt an overpowering sensation from the ground and could no longer see anything with her seismic sensing. The sensation was coming from the direction of the boy. Lin then found herself sent back and knocked to the ground by a barrage of attacks, now being unable to see them coming. Xai Bau ran off once again and Korra went over to Lin.

"That's impossible." Lin said. "It's like that boy is disrupting my seismic sensing with some sort of strange magnetic field."

"I guess I'll have to go in blind then." Korra said.

"Wait Korra, don't go after them alone." Lin said.

It was too late however. Korra ran after them and continued to follow them until she reached some sort of loading area outside of the palace near a water canal. Korra then dodged a blast of fire shot towards her by Xai Bau and came face to face with him. The two began fiercely bending at each other in an effort to stop the other in their tracks. Korra then earthbended several stones from the ground towards Xai Bau, who was able to dodge most of them. He wasn't quite fast enough and one of them managed to hit him right in the side of the torso, tearing through his cloak and creating a hole that went straight through him. Korra could see that inside the part of his body where the hole went through, there were several metal parts, gears, and other internal components, some of them moving.

"Just what are you!?" Korra said, now shocked and frightened at the sight she had just seen. "Are you even human?" Xai Bau just stood there motionless and silently stared at her.

She was frozen in fear and only able to stare at the hole in his body and the metal part of his face that could be seen through the part of his mask that was missing. Seeing an opening now that she was distracted, Xai Bau fired a blast of air towards Korra, which sent her into a nearby wall. He then fired another blast of air which blew out any of the remaining candles lighting the outside area. Xai Bau then ran off and disappeared from Korra's sight.

Xai Bau kept running and eventually met up with the woman and the boy, who were on a dock that led out into the water in a river.

"Did you lose her?" asked the boy

"Yes, now we just wait for Zaheer." said Xai Bau. In the distance, they heard what sounded like a boat coming down the river and getting closer and closer. Eventually, a speed boat came into view and made its way towards them, its headlights illuminating the water in front of it. Driving the boat was Zaheer, who stopped right next to the dock.

"Quickly, get in." said Zaheer. The three of them got into the boat and then they sped off down the river that led outside of the city and into the night.

After they were gone, Korra finally reached the dock, only to find that they were already gone. She took a good look around, but it was useless. All around it was pitch black and she couldn't see anything. She turned around and then headed back to Lin, and after that she and Lin made their way back to the front of the palace where everyone else was. Tenzin and Bumi then went over to help the two of them.

"What happened Korra?" Tenzin asked. "Did you manage to catch them?"

"No, they got away." Korra said. "I tried to go after them but it was too dark to see anything out there. They're probably long gone by now. What's worse is that it seems like Xai Bau can both firebend and airbend."

"That doesn't sound good." Tenzin said. "Something like that shouldn't even be possible."

Korra, Lin, Tenzin, and Bumi turned to assess the damage that had been done to the front part of the palace. It was a complete mess. Several parts of it were destroyed or melted, and there were several large holes in the wall, and in some places it had collapsed. Zuko and Izumi then came into the room, now knowing that it was same to come out. Zuko looked around at the damage and then looked to Azula, who was just casually and nonchalantly sitting on a piece of a pillar that had fallen over.

"What?" asked Azula, noticing Zuko looking at her.

"Azula, what did you do!?" Zuko asked frantically. "This place has been completely wrecked. Why couldn't you have done this outside?"

"Izumi was in danger." Azula said. "I had to make sure she was safe and drive off the intruders."

"I've told you before not to use plasma inside of the palace." Zuko said. "It always causes massive amounts of damage when you use it. This will take a long time to clean up and fix."

"This has definitely been one crazy night." said Korra. "We're going to have a lot of stuff to deal with when we wake up in the morning." Most of the people in the room then dispersed and went off to do whatever needed to be done or just go to bed.

"Come on Azula dear." said Akairyuu. "I'm pretty sure you're tired too after this long night. Let's go to bed."

* * *

Zaheer, Tensu, Sanken, and Mei-Ling were speeding down the river at night in their boat. They were discussing with each other how the mission had gone.

"I'd say it was a job well done." Tensu said. "I managed to destroy the government office and you two were able to destroy the records archive."

"Well, at least part of it." Sanken said. "We didn't have time to destroy the whole thing so we only destroyed the part of it that contained the evidence."

"What happened to you Tensu?" asked Zaheer, noticing the hole in Tensu's side.

"That happened during our escape when I fought the Avatar." Tensu said.

"Wait; don't tell me you actually went through the palace in order to reach the canal instead of going around." Zaheer said.

"We did go through there." Sanken said.

"Taking a short cut through the palace was dangerous and stupid." Zaheer said. "Why couldn't you have just taken the long way around to get to the canal? You could have gotten yourselves captured or killed."

"We had no choice." said Tensu. "We were pressed for time and we were being followed. If we had gone around where there were more people and soldiers, we most likely would have been seen and they would have cut us off. We decided to take a gamble and risk going through the palace to get there. It seems this was the price of the gamble paying off."

"You're really lucky that I'm not the kind of person who would decide to just fly away and leave the three of you behind if you did something stupid that got you in trouble." Zaheer said.

"This should help you for now." said Sanken. He then made a bending motion and used metalbending to close the hole in the metal part of Tensu's torso. "When we get back to the hideout, we'll be able to fix you up."

"Thanks for that." Tensu said.

In the back of the boat, Mei-Ling was wiping the facepaint and makeup off of her face with a wet cloth she had dipped into the water of the river. She then turned to Sanken.

"Sanbei? Seriously?" Mei-Ling said. "At least my alias of Hitsumi and Zaheer's alias of Monk Gyatsuboro were more creative. All you did was just change the last character of your name."

"Simplicity often works best." Sanken said. "A cat with one good trick that it's sure will work can often outwit a fox with a hundred untested tricks that it's not sure will work."

"Okay then, but sometimes it wouldn't hurt to try something new." said Mei-Ling.

"What now?" said Sanken.

"Now we head back home." said Tensu. "We've accomplished what we set out to do this night."

They all then relaxed and looked out at the night sky full of stars as the boat continued on its way down the river.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Xai Bau's Message

Korra awoke in the morning to the sound of several loud noises coming from somewhere within the palace. After getting out of bed and fixing herself up, she headed towards the source of the noise to see what it was. Walking through the palace, she eventually made her way to the front area which had been completely wrecked in the previous night's battle. There she found Mako, Bolin, Asami, Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Lin, Iroh, Izumi, Izumi's husband Zhen, Zuko, Azula, Akairyuu, Kiyi, and several other people who appeared to be construction workers. There were various scaffolds throughout the room and many of the fallen pillars had been put back into place. Most of the holes in the walls had been filled or at least covered up.

"What's with all the noise?" Korra asked, slightly agitated and still a little sluggish.

"So you're awake now Korra." said Tenzin. "These workers here are fixing all of the damage that happened here last night. We've also been helping a little bit as well."

"Me and Lin helped mostly with our earthbending." said Bolin, now appearing next to Korra. "Also, look what I can do now." Bolin held out his hand, in which he was holding a spherical piece of metal that had broken off from one of the wall decorations. The metal started to shake in the palm of his hand. "Pretty cool isn't it?"

"You've figured out how to metalbend?" Korra said. "That's great."

"I'm still just beginning to grasp it." Bolin said. "I haven't been able to pick it up as quickly as you were able to in Zaofu."

"So what is the state of things so far after what happened last night?" Korra asked.

"According to the news we heard on the radio this morning, that building that was blown up near the town square on Piandao Avenue was some kind of government office." Tenzin said. "Luckily, there wasn't anyone inside, and only a few people were outside. Most of the employees there were off at the festival, which provided a perfect opportunity for someone to break in unnoticed and plant explosives."

"What do we know about who was responsible?" asked Korra.

"From what we have been able to gather, the individuals responsible are believed to have been terrorists that are connected to the anti-monarchy movement going on here in the Fire Nation." Tenzin said. "We now have strong reason to believe that the Red Lotus could very well be involved with the movement and have ties to them. That mysterious masked man you encountered was most likely the person that the people of the movement call Xai Bau."

"There was something really creepy and unsettling about that guy." Korra said. "Also, there's the mystery of how he is able to both firebend and airbend."

"I think I might have somewhat of an answer to that." Iroh said, now joining the discussion. "Lin, you mentioned that Xai Bau seemed to have various metal parts on most of his body. Correct?"

"Yes, he did." Lin said, also joining the conversation.

"It sounds to me like he has many prosthetic parts and cybernetics enhancements all over his body, most likely the result of critical injuries he has sustained at some point in his life." Iroh said. "Medical technology here in the Fire Nation has greatly advanced in the years since the Hundred Year War, so things like this are not uncommon to see, especially after the civil war. Many replacement parts are usually better than the original parts they substitute, often giving a person enhanced speed, agility, strength, and durability."

"That explains how he could run and jump like that and how we could barely keep up with his movements." Bolin said. "His punches and kicks must have hurt so much because his arms and legs are made of metal."

"But what does this have to do with him bending two elements?" Korra asked.

"In many cases, people who have lost various parts of their bodies and had them replaced seem to have increased difficulty being able to bend, or in some cases are not able to bend at all anymore because of their disability." Iroh said. "To help alleviate this, many replacement body parts often have mechanisms built into them that allow someone be able to continue bending by replicating and producing their element with various components. Some of the more advanced replacement parts are actually bio-linked and connected into the chi pathways in someone's body, allowing them to be able to continue to bend the real thing rather than machines replicating it for them."

"Something like this is possible?" Tenzin said in disbelief.

"Here in the Fire Nation, much research has been done into being able to replicate and produce different bending elements with various replacement parts." Iroh said. "So far the only elements that we have had any luck in being able to produce with machines are firebending, and to a certain extent, airbending. Waterbending and earthbending so far seem to be impossible to create because a preexisting source of the element is required. Firebending and airbending are not bound to anything and do not need a preexisting source, which is why it was able to be done with them, also, firebending and airbending are the two elements most similar to each other, making them the most compatible. We have had the most success in doing this with firebending. There have been experiments in trying to do this with airbending, but currently most of the tests have been unsuccessful. We have been able to create parts that simply mimic airbending by creating small gusts of air, but the more advanced and intricate ones that connect into the chi pathways have proven to be a challenge."

"What do you mean?" Korra said.

"The parts with airbending mechanisms that connect into the chi pathways seem to be extremely difficult to control, and in many cases, it has been found that for most people, it simply doesn't work and is unresponsive." Iroh said. "The main reason the replacement parts with firebending that connect to the chi pathways have worked is because the people who use them were already firebenders to begin with. It is possible that the same is true for airbending as well. It didn't work for most people because they weren't airbenders."

"Wait, you said that it didn't work for _"most"_ people." Tenzin said, now very interested. "Does that mean that it actually worked for some of the people it was tested on?"

"More or less." Iroh said. "For those that it did work on, they did exhibit some form of control over it. Oddly enough, all of the individuals that the airbending mechanisms seemed to respond to came from the same group of people."

"What group of people would that be?" Korra asked.

"The people who are from a group of firebenders known as the combustion benders." Iroh said. "Apparently, these people are descended from both firebenders and airbenders in the distant past. It is theorized that the machines, when connected into their chi pathways, are responding to their distant airbender heritage that is in their genetics and they are able to link up with them because of that and use the airbending mechanisms built into the replacement parts. Since there are very few combustion benders left however, this is now almost impossible to test."

"So that must have been what Jinora was sensing." Tenzin said. "The airbending Xai Bau was using felt unnatural and spiritually disconnected because it was being artificially created with machines."

"That sort of gives us a hint as to who Xai Bau could be." said Iroh. "He's most likely someone from the same clan as the combustion benders."

"What about Xai Bau's accomplices?" asked Korra. "There were two other people with him. What were they doing last night?"

"Before they had met up with him, those two had gone to the records archive near the outside of the palace and had tried to destroy it. It seems like they were in a hurry and only had time to destroy part of it." Iroh said. "The part of the records archive that they destroyed was the section that contained records from the war. For whatever reason, there was something in there that they didn't want us to find. After that, they fled and escaped using the canal located near the back of the palace. They escaped pretty quickly and were gone by the time Korra got there, so the most likely explanation for how they disappeared so fast is that they had to have been picked up by a boat that was waiting there for them."

"What do we know about the other two people who were with Xai Bau?" asked Korra.

"One of them was a woman who is a non-bender." Tenzin said. "According to the descriptions the soldiers gave us, she had the appearance of someone from Kyoshi Island. The other was a boy with very strong earthbending abilities."

"I underestimated him because of how young he looked and he caught me completely off guard." Lin said. "He seems to have some strange earthbending technique I've never seen before. At first, I thought it was metalbending, but no ordinary metalbending could have done something like that. His ability seemed to involve some sort of magnetism, but on a much more advanced and amplified level. It felt like a he had combined both metalbending and seismic sensing in order to create something stronger in the form of his magnetism ability."

"I guess we'll have to watch out for him as well." said Korra.

"He may have gotten me by surprise last night, but next time he won't be so lucky." said Lin. "If I ever see that smug little boy again, I'm going to pay him back for what he did and teach him to never mess with Lin Beifong again."

"I think there is a high possibility that Xai Bau and his two accomplices are actual members of the Red Lotus and not just part of the anti-monarchy movement." Tenzin said.

"What do we do now?" asked Korra. "If it's the Red Lotus we're dealing with, then they'll most likely be back to try and take out Firelord Izumi and the rest of the royal family."

"There's nothing we can really do at the moment." Tenzin said. "For now we just wait and continue doing what we were doing before they came. In time, they'll return, but I have a feeling that the situation here in the Fire Nation is going to become very hectic and unstable within the next few days.

* * *

It was now later in the day and Tensu, Sanken, Mei-Ling, and Zaheer were now back at the Red Lotus hideout. The four of them are gathered in a room that seems to be some sort of office, and they are meeting with Xai Bau, who is sitting in his wheelchair behind a desk, and discussing with them the outcome of their mission from the previous night.

"In short, we managed to destroy the government office and we destroyed the section of the records archive that contained the records from the war." Tensu said. "After that we made our escape through the palace to reach the canal and came back here by traveling down the river under the cover of night."

"You did a very good job." Xai Bau said. "The four of you worked fast and covered your tracks well, and now that you destroyed those records, your identities will remain hidden. That was a loose end from long ago that needed to be tied up."

"What will be our next move?" asked Tensu.

"For now, we will lay low while we observe the ripple effects that will start to happen in the Fire Nation." Xai Bau said. "Over the next few weeks, we will be coming closer and closer to our goal. Soon the next stage of our plan will begin and we will go after Firelord Izumi and the royal family." He looked out the window of the office, which led out into the massive hanger below and glanced upon the construction that was happening down there. "The construction seems to be happening on schedule. At this rate, everything should be completed by the time we are ready to make our final move."

"There's one thing I must mention." Tensu said. "During our mission, we had an encounter with the Avatar and we fought her. Do you think she already suspects that the Red Lotus is here in the Fire Nation? She could already be on to us."

"She is probably aware of us by now." said Xai Bau. "She is a factor we are now going to have to consider when we make our plans. She could either be a great aid to us, or could be what causes our plans to come crashing down. She is the only piece left in this game whose role has yet to determined."

"Should we kill her then, so we don't have to worry about that?" asked Tensu.

"No, not yet." said Xai Bau. "I know what we'll do. We'll send her a message and see how she responds and reacts. Her answer will tell us how we should handle things." He looked at Zaheer. "I believe the one who should deliver this message to her should be you Zaheer. Afterall, you're already familiar with her, and she definitely won't ignore you."

"What is the message you want me to give her?" Zaheer asked. "This should be interesting."

* * *

It was now a few days after the festival, and Korra was taking a walk through the capital city on her own and exploring around. Eventually, she came across a familiar sight that she had seen the other day. There was a crowd of people who were holding another protest against the monarchy, but this time, the group of people participating was even larger than before. Ever since the attack, several members of the anti-monarchy movement had been arrested and put in prison, and there have been severe repercussions against them by the government. Now a curfew has been put into place for the citizens of the capital city that will last for the next few weeks.

"Why are we being punished for the actions of a select few?" said one of the protesters on a megaphone. "Once again, the monarchy is oppressing us and taking away our rights, all for the sake of preserving order and peace. Now we who are innocent and who had nothing to do with the attack are being accused of treason and being labeled enemies of the state. How far is this madness going to go?"

Then, many of the people noticed Korra walking nearby and pointed her out. Ever since the attack, it has become known that the Avatar is now in the Fire Nation and her face is now in every newspaper.

"It's the Avatar." said one of the protesters. "Avatar Korra, will you please help us with our plight and set things right. You are the Avatar afterall, and it is your duty to help those who are in need. We people of the Fire Nation are in dire need of your assistance in resolving this issue. Will you help us?"

"I may not know what exactly is going on here in the Fire Nation, but I will see what I can do." Korra said cautiously, now feeling a bit sympathetic for the protesters and being reminded of the situation of the non-bending majority from when the Equalist Crisis occurred in Republic City. "I will speak with Firelord Izumi myself and see if I can resolve this."

Then, Korra noticed someone near the edge of the crowd standing next to the wall of one of the buildings in the background. It was a man, dressed in the attire of a monk and wearing a conical straw hat. She immediately recognized him as the monk she had seen at the festival a few days ago. The monk noticed her and looked straight at her, signaling to her, almost as if he was saying a few unspoken words, and then he began to leave. Korra had the feeling that the monk wanted her to follow him, so she discreetly slipped away and went after him. She made her way through several twists and turns in the city and through several alleyways until she caught up to the monk and they found themselves alone.

"I take it you want to speak to me monk, judging by the signs coming from you." Korra said.

"Yes, I do want to speak to you." said the monk. "Please try to keep calm." He took off his hat, revealing his full face and bald head.

"Zaheer!?" Korra shouted. "What are you doing here!? No wonder there was something familiar about you when I saw you at the festival. That really was you, wasn't it? I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me again; something which happens to me quite often now ever since I was poisoned."

"I have a message to give to you." Zaheer said.

"Let me guess, you're working with the Red Lotus here in the Fire Nation?" Korra said.

"Not exactly." Zaheer said. "As of now I'm just watching from the sidelines. None of this political conflict really interests me. However Xai Bau has sent me to deliver his message to you."

"Why should I listen to anything you have to say?" Korra asked.

"Just here me out for one minute." Zaheer said. "Don't worry, even though I'm still with the Red Lotus, you have nothing to fear from me. I have no more quarrels with you."

"We may not be enemies anymore, but you're definitely not my friend." Korra said. "What is it that Xai Bau wants?"

"Xai Bau asks if you would like to help us in our mission of changing the Fire Nation and freeing it from its oppressive monarchy, allowing the people to rule themselves." Zaheer said. "Something like this has already happened in the Earth Kingdom thanks to your efforts, so why not do the same here? With the Avatar helping us, we'll have the increased support of the people."

"No way. Why would I help you, especially after what happened the last time I decided to cooperate with the Red Lotus and let you capture me." Korra said. "I know very well about the type of change the Red Lotus brings about to the world."

"You don't know the full scope of what's really going on here." Zaheer said. "The people of the Fire Nation are suffering under the rule of the monarchy. Their outdated polices, isolationism, and rule with an iron fist are having a negative effect on the people. Their original purpose might have been to prevent something like the Hundred Year War from ever happening again, but the world has changed since then and is a different place now. The methods of the monarchy are now causing more harm than good, despite their good intentions. It's time that the stubborn and out of touch monarchy step down from power, but it doesn't seem like they'll willingly do that. As the Avatar, isn't it your duty to help in situations like this? There is a great imbalance here that must be corrected; one that should have been corrected at the end of the Hundred Year War but was instead allowed to continue, and it eventually led to the devastating Fire Nation Civil War."

"My answer is still no." Korra said. "I won't help you and the Red Lotus overthrow the government of the Fire Nation. Believe me, I do want to fix the situation here as well, but your way of doing it is just wrong. You'll just end up making things even worse, like how you did in the Earth Kingdom."

"Leaving things the way they are now and preserving the monarchy won't help either." Zaheer said. "As the situation becomes worse and worse, Firelord Izumi will be forced to take more drastic measures in order to keep peace and order. Even if she doesn't mean to, this will just lead to the creation of another oppressive tyrant like Kuvira."

"She won't become like Kuvira; that was a different case." said Korra. "I will go and discuss the state of things with Firelord Izumi and see if I can convince her to change things."

"She won't listen." Zaheer said. "The Fire Nation's government is too rooted in tradition and hereditary rule for it to suddenly be changed overnight. The only way to fix it now is to tear it all down and start over."

"I have to try at least." Korra said. "I'll keep in mind what you said however."

"Fine then, but if it doesn't work, then I would suggest that you and your friends should leave the Fire Nation while you still can." said Zaheer. "Trust me, you don't want to get mixed up in whatever is going to be happening here within the next few weeks."

"You know I can't do that, especially since I'm the Avatar and it's my duty to help those in need." said Korra. "Is that everything you have to say to me?"

"Yes, it is." said Zaheer.

"Then leave and get out of my sight." said Korra. "We may be on neutral terms with each other now, but don't think that this means I've forgiven you for poisoning me."

"Farewell then Avatar, and good luck." said Zaheer, who began walking away and then left, disappearing into the various alleyways of the city.

Korra then left as well and began to head back to the palace, wondering if she should tell anyone about her encounter with Zaheer and pondering what her next course of action should be. Upon getting there, she found Zuko, Iroh, Mako, Bolin, Asami, Tenzin, Bumi, Kya, Lin, Pema, Rohan, Meelo, Ikki, Jinora, Kai, Opal, Naga, Varrick, and Zhu Li in the front area of the palace. She then decided that it isn't really necessary to tell them now and figures that she will just tell them later.

"Korra, there you are." Zuko said. "I have some troubling news for you and your friends."

"What is it?" Korra asked.

"The political situation here in the Fire Nation is becoming gradually more unstable. There are even rumors that another civil war could start if things get any worse. A war whose flames are being fanned by the Red Lotus." Zuko said. "It may now longer be safe for you to stay here. It would probably be best if you and your friends ended your vacation early and just went back home to Republic City while you still can."

"I had a feeling it would eventually come to this." Korra said. "Lord Zuko, I've been doing some thinking, and I've decided that I should stay here and do what I can to help with the situation."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Zuko. "The Red Lotus is here, and they could very well try to kill you if you get in their way."

"I've made up my mind." Korra said. "As the Avatar, I can't just leave as something like this is happening and turn a blind eye. The people of the Fire Nation need the Avatar's help in this crisis. The Avatar wasn't able to do anything about the civil war when it happened, which led to this situation in the first place. This time, I'll be here, and I'll fix things and make sure another war doesn't happen again, whatever it takes. Everyone else can leave to safety, but I'll stay here."

"If you're going to stay, then I'm going to stay too." said Asami.

"So am I Korra." said Mako. "I told you that I'll always have your back, whenever you need me."

"Don't forget about me." said Bolin.

"I can' let my student do this all alone." Tenzin said.

"If you're going to do this, then you'll need all the help you can get." said Lin.

One by one, each of Korra's friends all stated their desire to stay and help in whatever way they could.

"You guys really don't have to do this. You shouldn't feel obligated to stay." said Korra.

"Nothing is changing our minds." said Asami. "We're dead set on doing this."

"Okay, if that's how it's going to be, then let's get started." said Korra, now with a smile on her face. "What should we do to help Lord Zuko?"

Korra's friends all gathered around her and Zuko and they began to discuss their plan of action.


	12. Chapter Twelve: To Ember Island

Korra found herself inside of a great darkness surrounding her, filled with a feeling of immense dread and fear. She was lost and wandering through the darkness, and then she came across someone. It was a young boy, who began to approach her. She got a bad feeling from him and tried to run away. When she attempted to turn around, she found that she could not, no matter how hard she tried. The boy made a bending motion towards her and her arms and legs began to move on their own, taking her towards him. He then made another bending motion and Korra began to feel an intense, burning pain all over her body.

After that, a large amount of liquid metal began to bubble out of the skin all over her body as the pain got worse. Liquid metal then began to spew out of her mouth in large quantities, and she found that she was unable to breath and was suffocating. The liquid metal formed into a large pool around her and she found herself drowning in it, desperately trying to get out. She sunk into the pool, falling all the way to the bottom, and then fell through, finding herself alone in the darkness again.

In the darkness, she now saw a woman dressed like a Kyoshi Warrior. The woman ran towards Korra and the two began to fight, her clothes becoming cut up and torn by the woman's two metal fan-like weapons. The woman then made several quick jabs with her fingers at Korra's arms and legs, and they all went numb. The woman disappeared and now she saw a new person in front of her. It was Xai Bau, the man she had fought on the night of the festival.

She tried to get away but found that now she couldn't move any of her limbs because of what the woman had done to them. Xai Bau got closer and closer to her and she wasn't able to do anything about it. She could see the hole in the side of his torso she had created and could see all of the machinery and parts within his body. As he got closer, his mask melted off of his face, revealing a frightening sight underneath. Under his mask was a skull, covered with metal in various places. He reached out his hand towards her, coming closer to her and then he grabbed her by the throat in a chokehold. Everything began to grow blurry and then all she saw was darkness.

* * *

Korra awoke in her bed in the middle of the night screaming and was sweating all over. Realizing it was just a dream; she then calmed down and relaxed, happy that it was over. Asami immediately rushed to her side from the other room to see what was going on.

"What's wrong Korra? Are you alright?" Asami asked.

"I was just having a nightmare." Korra said. "It was terrible. I'm glad it's over now though. Can you stay here for a little bit Asami? At least until I feel better?"

"It's okay now." said Asami. She began to hug Korra and the two of them embraced. "You know, if only you didn't kick like an earthbender in your sleep, then maybe I would be able to sleep in the same room as you and keep you company so that you wouldn't have to feel so scared at night."

"This is just like what I saw Bolin do once when he had a bad dream." said Korra. "He went to Opal for a hug, to help him get over it. Don't tell him I said that though. He told me not to tell anyone. He'd be absolutely embarrassed if anyone else ever found out."

"That definitely sounds like him." said Asami, now beginning to laugh.

"Ever since I was poisoned, I sometimes hallucinate some really weird things and have some really weird dreams. Sometimes I'll even have random emotional outbursts or strange psychological episodes where I have no idea what I'm even doing, and other times, I'll have moments where I just can't think straight at all." Korra said. "Apparently mercury poisoning can have that sort of mental effect on people, even long after they've been treated for it."

"Even though you've gotten over it, it still seems like your life is being effected by what Zaheer did to you." said Asami.

"Asami, there's something that's been bothering me that I need to tell you." said Korra.

"What is it?" asked Asami.

"Yesterday in the city, I saw Zaheer." Korra said.

"What!?" Asami said with a look of shock. "Are you serious!?"

"Yes, I am." Korra said. "He had a message to deliver to me from the leader of the Red Lotus, Xai Bau." Korra then recounted to her the events that had transpired the previous day and told her about everything Zaheer had said.

"Korra, why didn't you tell anyone about this?" asked Asami.

"I was going to, but then I kind of lost my nerve and decided that I'd do it later." said Korra. "I wasn't sure how everyone would react to something like that. I'm not even sure if any of what Zaheer said was true, or whether that was just him and Xai Bau playing mind games with me."

"Well you should tell everyone else soon." said Asami. "This could be important to helping us figure out what to do about the situation with the Red Lotus."

"I know, but for now just keep it between the two of us." Korra said. "I'm going to tell the others myself eventually."

"So, what was it like?" asked Asami.

"What was what like?" asked Korra.

"What was it like encountering Zaheer again after all this time?" asked Asami. "How did it feel seeing him again, especially after everything he did to you?"

"I don't really feel as much resentment towards him as I used to." said Korra. "I still haven't forgiven him for poisoning me, but something about him felt a little different however. It was like something inside of him felt calm and serene, like there was some sort of internal change, but at the same time, there was a hint of sadness and regret. Whatever it was, I don't get the same kind of vibe coming from him as I did back when he was trying to kill me."

"You could tell all of that just by being near him?" said Asami.

"Ever since I trained with Toph in the swamp and learned how to become more spiritually connected to the world around me, I can almost sort of read people in a way." said Korra.

"I seems like the power to read someone's heart." said Asami.

"Asami, did I make a mistake?" asked Korra.

"What sort of mistake?" asked Asami.

"Was it a mistake for me to just let Zaheer walk away like that?" asked Korra. "Should I have tried to stop him there and capture him? He is an escaped criminal on the run that is wanted in the United Republic and the Earth Kingdom. He was right there in front of me, but I didn't do anything. Could he and the Red Lotus end up hurting even more people in the future now because I didn't do anything? I kind of feel some regret over not trying to stop him."

"If you regret it so much, then what made you not want to try and stop him in the first place?" asked Asami.

"Believe me, I did consider doing it and thought about trying to capture him during the time that we were talking." said Korra. "But then I began to have doubts and fears. What would happen if I tried to do it? Would I be able to do it? What would I do once I captured him? Would I be able to hold him long enough to go and get help? What if it created a big scene in the city and a lot innocent people got dragged in? What if he fought back and something happened to me? Nobody would be around to help me if something went wrong. Could he easily just fly away and escape my grasp, causing me to lose my one chance to capture him? The whole time so many different thoughts were racing through my mind, and on the other hand, I wasn't really thinking clearly at all and was still in shock over the fact that Zaheer was suddenly right there in front of me, and I think he knew that and used it to his advantage. By the time my mind had started to clear, our conversation was over and Zaheer was leaving, at which point it was kind of already too late to try anything."

"You did whatever you felt was the best course of action for you at the time." said Asami. "I won't judge you for that."

"Do you think we might have bitten off more than we can chew with our decision to help out with the political situation here in the Fire Nation?" asked Korra.

"I don't know, but just know that whatever happens here, I'll stick by your side no matter what. We all will." said Asami.

"You know, even though we've decided to help out here, we're still technically on vacation." said Korra. "I said that no matter what happened, it wouldn't stop me from enjoying myself. I'm pretty sure we'll still be able to find some time to relax inbetween the times we are helping with the situation here. So let the Red Lotus come, they won't stop me."

"It seems like you've cheered up now." said Asami. "Let's go back to sleep already. We'll need to be well rested for tomorrow."

Asami then went back to bed in her room and Korra went back to sleep in her bed.

* * *

The next day, Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Lin, Opal, Kai, and Jinora were meeting with Firelord Izumi, Zhen, Zuko, Azula, Akairyuu, Kiyi, Iroh, and several other Fire Nation government officials in a meeting room in the palace to discuss what to do about the current situation. Korra had just finished revealing to everyone the details of her encounter with Zaheer the previous day. Everyone was noticeably stunned by the news.

"Korra, that must have been terrifying having Zaheer suddenly appear out of nowhere after all this time." said Bolin.

"You could have told us sooner." said Mako. "There's nothing to worry about, we would have understood."

"This doesn't sound good." said Tenzin, now gathering his composure. "On top of everything else, we now have to worry about Zaheer as well and what he might do."

"Now that I've told you all that, on to the next issue; why exactly is it that the people of the Fire Nation want so badly for the monarchy to step down from power that it's causing them to protest, and in some cases riot over it?" asked Korra.

"They believe that they are being oppressed and restricted by our policies." said Izumi.

"From what I can tell, this issue is more complicated than that." said Tenzin. "Its roots seem to go all the way back to when Zuko and my father ended the Hundred Year War. Perhaps you should explain things from the very beginning to give us a better understanding."

"After my father Ozai was defeated at the end of the war, I had to do whatever it took to reform the Fire Nation and change its image for the better." said Zuko. "I made sure that the Fire Nation stayed out of the business of other nations and kept it from interfering with them, leading to the Fire Nation's current isolationist polices. Of course there were also still rebels who supported Ozai, like the New Ozai Society, so I had to show the people that we were not weak by removing all distention in order to create peace, unity, and order in the Fire Nation."

"On the outside, it may look bad, but it was actually for the greater good." said Izumi. "It was necessary for us to do things pragmatically and sometimes rule with an iron fist and be a little harsh in order to prevent something like the Hundred Year War from ever happening again. The polices that my father Zuko and I put into place are there to prevent the Fire Nation from falling back into its old ways. They can call me another Kuvira if they'd like, but I'm nothing like her. I care about the Fire Nation and want to ensure that it won't fall apart."

"For a while after the Hundred Year War, the policies worked and there was a time of great peace." said Iroh. "At the time, the Fire Nation was the most technologically advanced nation in the world. It shared its vast wealth of knowledge and technology with the rest of the world, and there was a great advancement in technology throughout the world. Even today with the nations now all industrialized, the Fire Nation is still a few years ahead of all the other nations in certain areas of technology."

"I remember when my father was the head of Future Industries, we often did business with the Fire Nation, who were always buying our creations in order to mass produce them. Most of my family has roots here in the Fire Nation and we are well known in the area of technology here." said Asami. "That probably contributed a little bit to the rapid boom in technology here."

"As you might already know from what I told you earlier, the war began when many of the holdouts from Ozai's time, as well as many other political dissidents saw an opportunity to grab power for themselves." said Iroh. "With the Avatar gone, they no longer had anything to fear and could now openly defy the monarchy and break away and become warlords of their own territories. Old grievances, long buried since Ozai's time now came to the surface and erupted into a violent conflict of self-interest. The war was very costly and devastating, but the rebels were eventually defeated and the Fire Nation was reunited. After that, there were severe reparations against those responsible and new, harsher policies were put in place in order to keep the same thing from happening again."

"It worked for the most part, but unfortunately, over the years it seems to have had some negative side effects." said Zuko. "Certain freedoms were restricted, trade with other nations was heavily regulated by the government, and many long standing, unresolved issues from the older days were simply ignored and forgotten. Not everyone was happy with the way things were going, and that eventually led to the current situation of the people wanting us to step down from power."

"Do you think it's possible to create some changes and reforms to satisfy the people of the Fire Nation?" asked Korra.

"We have thought about changing things and shifting the balance of power away from a select few and towards the majority, but with the current political situation, the Fire Nation is just not ready for that and might not be for a very long time." said Izumi. "However by then it might already be too late and everything will have fallen into chaos and disarray. We seem to be stuck between two options, neither of which will result in a good scenario in the long run."

"The situation has now become even worse with this Xai Bau figure appearing and stirring up the people and gathering support for his cause." said Zuko. "He and the Red Lotus are planting the seeds for what could potentially become another war."

"If we are to fix things, then it seems we will first have to stabilize the situation before we can begin to make any political changes." said Tenzin. "That means that we will have to root out Xai Bau and the Red Lotus here in the Fire Nation and stop their plans of creating a new conflict."

"How will we do that?" asked Korra. "The Red Lotus could be hiding anywhere, pulling the strings from behind the scenes and watching."

"We will have to start an investigation in order to find Xai Bau, and his two accomplices and uncover their identities." said Iroh "According to what Korra told us, Zaheer is also here in the Fire Nation and we have reason to believe that he is working with them as well."

"If we can find just one of the Red Lotus members, that could potentially lead us to the others." said Tenzin.

"Before we start our investigation, we will first have to relocate to a new area that will serve as our base of operations for the duration of the investigation. The Red Lotus probably already knows where we are now. This new location we will go to will be safer for the time being." Iroh said. "The place where we will go to will be our retreat on Ember Island. You should all probably pack your things; we will be leaving to go there soon."

"Once we get settled there, what will we do next?" asked Korra.

"There are a few leads that we have gotten for us to go by." said Iroh. "You will all probably have to split up into groups and search these different leads. The first clue we have is that the masked man Xai Bau could be from the same clan as the combustion benders."

"Sounds like a good start." said Korra.

"Another clue we have is that they wanted to destroy records from the war, giving us a hint that there may be something in there that could potentially reveal some information about them." said Iroh. "Though the records in the archive here were destroyed, there is actually another place that might have the information we are looking for. Located in a town on an island near the eastern part of the Fire Nation is a place that was once a war registration office where the names and profiles of many soldiers were kept. If Xai Bau was someone who fought in the war, then one of the files containing his identity might still be there, if the Red Lotus hasn't gotten to it already and destroyed it."

"How will we all get around to where we need to go?" asked Korra. "We don't have our sky bison."

"Don't worry, I already solved the issue of travel." said Tenzin. "I called the Air Acolytes and had them send over your sky bison since it seemed like we'll need them."

"Great, now we get to see some action." said Korra. "This should be fun. I'll be just like old times."

"Alright everyone, the meeting is over." said Iroh. "Now start packing up and get ready to go to Ember Island."

"Maybe while we're there we can have some fun." said Korra. "You can't just go on a vacation to the Fire nation and not visit Ember Island."

Everyone in the room then began to disperse and went off to prepare for their assignments and the relocation.

Eventually, everyone had gathered their baggage and they were loading it onto a boat that was docked in the river near the palace, which would take them to Ember Island. The boat waiting for them was the same boat that Varrick had used to bring them to the Fire Nation. On the deck of the boat were their sky bison, who were eagerly awaiting the return of their partners.

"We should get comfortable." said Korra. "The trip to Ember Island might take a while."

When everything was ready, the ship set off on its course to Ember Island.

* * *

The boat ride had gone on for most of the day and many of the people on the ship were now bored. On one part of the deck of the ship, Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Lin, Izumi, and Zhen were all gathered together sharing stories of their pasts and were conversing lively with each other as if they were old friends. In fact, they were, most of them having been the children of the original Team Avatar; they were often together as children and became great friends since then. Izumi and the rest of the royal family had decided to temporarily come to Ember Island with everyone else in order to be safe for the time being, and in the meantime, the running of the capital was left to some of the government officials there.

Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Iroh, Zuko, Azula, Akairyuu, and Kiyi were gathered into a group at another part of the boat. Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo were listening with great interest to the many stories that Azula was telling about her past.

"Hey kids, I have an interesting story for you." said Azula. "Did you know that a long time ago, I once killed your grandfather?" There was now an awkward silence from Tenzin's children. "He came back to life though."

"That's... nice to know." said Jinora, now somewhat shaken by what Azula had said.

"Wow Azula, you sure do have a way with children and know how to scare them." Zuko said jokingly.

"I wasn't trying to scare them." said Azula.

Realizing how awkward Azula sometimes was with social interaction, Bolin decided to change the subject.

"Hey Zuko, I have a question for you." said Bolin. "It's something that me and Mako have been curious about ever since we last visited our grandmother Yin and the rest of her family."

"What is it?" asked Zuko.

"Have you ever been to Ba Sing Se before?" asked Bolin.

"Yes, I've actually been there a few times in the past." Zuko responded.

"Were you ever at one point there during the Hundred Year War?" asked Bolin.

"I have actually, when my uncle Iroh and I went there as refugees." said Zuko, now a little bit intrigued as to how they would know this.

"When you were there, did you ever once meet a girl named Jin and go on a date with her?" asked Bolin. Zuko's face now froze in surprise.

"What? Yes, I did. How do know about that?" asked Zuko, now confused.

"I knew it!" said Bolin. "I told you it was true Mako."

"What's this all about?" asked Korra.

"The side of our family from Ba Sing Se is actually quite large." said Bolin. "Well it turns out, our grandmother Yin has an older sister named Jin, who is our great-aunt. Our great-aunt Jin, claims that she once dated a man with a scar over his left eye during the Hundred Year War. At the time, she had no idea who he was, but a few years later, she saw in a newspaper an image of the same man, and immediately recognized him. Apparently, that man was Zuko, the Firelord at the time. She swears that it was him who she had dated, but nobody in our family believed her and thought she was crazy. To this day she still claims it was him, but still nobody believes her, not even Mako or her younger sister Yin, our grandmother. Being here kind of reminded me of it and I thought to ask about it."

"Unbelievable." said Mako. "So it is true. I thought that was just a story great-aunt Jin made up to entertain the children."

"I remember her." said Zuko. "She was a sweet girl, but it didn't really work out between us. I heard that she sometimes visited my uncle's tea shop in Ba Sing Se in the years after the Hundred Year War. Whatever happened to her?"

"She eventually got married and had a family of her own." said Bolin. "Apparently my grandmother and her sister had been living in the same apartment along with their families for almost their entire lives."

"Wow Zuko, aside from Katara, there's also this Jin girl you've been flirting around with." Azula said jokingly. "How many other girls are there that we don't know about?"

"Oh come on Azula, not this again." said Zuko. "Jin was just a girl I dated once, and me and Katara are just friends, as I've told you before. You're probably never going to stop teasing me about that are you?"

"You know, you're never too old for love Zuko." said Jinora, with a smile. "Katara's grandmother Kanna got married to her lover Pakku at an old age. My dad and his siblings also seem to be very fond of you, so it could work out."

"Oh no, not you too." said Zuko, now embarrassed. "You're just making it easier for Azula."

They continued on conversing with each other until eventually something appeared on the horizon.

"Look, there's Ember Island." said Iroh.

"The place where we'll be staying is the house where I was living for the past few years. That was until the incident with the Red Lotus happened a few years ago, so since then I have been living in the palace to be closer to Izumi." said Zuko.

The ship docked on Ember Island and everyone eagerly began to disembark with all of their baggage. Out of Bolin's luggage sprung Pabu, who seemed to be very happy to be on land again.

"We're here. This is the renowned Ember Island, one of the best vacation spots in the world." said Korra.

"Go and make yourselves comfortable for now." said Iroh. "In a few days, we are probably going to start our investigation and have you guys help out."

They all made their way to the royal family's vacation home and settled in.

"We'll show you all around for now." said Zuko.

They split up into groups as Zuko led one of them through the house and Azula led the other group to another part of the house. They showed them many places there, including the rooms in which they would be staying. Eventually, Korra, Asami, Opal, Kai, Bumi, Lin, and Naga, led by Azula came across a peculiar room with a few pictures hanging on the wall. Kai noticed one of them, which was a picture of a young woman.

"Who's that woman in the picture?" asked Kai. "She's very beautiful."

"That is a picture of me from when I was younger." said Azula.

"Wow, that was you?" said Korra. "Sometimes it's easy to forget that even someone your age was young once."

"What about that picture?" said Asami, pointing at a photograph in one of the picture frames. "Who is that?" In the photograph there was a picture of a woman, and in her arms she held a baby.

"That is a picture of my daughter that was sent to me by her when she was living in the Earth Kingdom." said Azula. "It's one of the only things I have left to remember her by. The baby she is holding is her child. I've always wanted to meet my grandchild, though I never got the chance to."

"It must be really hard losing a child." said Asami.

"It's kind of an ironic twist of fate, similar to what happened to my Uncle Iroh." said Azula. "When I was a teenager, I used to not like my uncle Iroh, but now I seem to have become like him in almost every way. I really miss him now. We're both the eccentric and carefree ones while our siblings are the more serious ones, who ended up taking the throne. We also both ended up losing our only child, while the children of our siblings lived and inherited the throne. He lost his son Lu Ten and I lost my daughter Haruko."

"They both have the same eyes as you." said Korra, looking at the picture. "They kind of remind me of someone." Korra and Asami then seemed to realize something.

"Don't worry." said Asami. "I'm sure one day you'll see your grandchild." The two of them smiled at each other and began to move on further down the hallway, leaving Azula with a confused look.

"Let's go meet up with the others." said Korra.

"I never told you this Korra, but I actually have some family members here in the Fire Nation." said Asami. "Most of my mother's side of the family is from the Fire Nation, just like Mako's. When I was a girl, my mom and dad would sometimes take me on vacation to the Fire Nation with them and we would go visit her family. They live in a town on an island somewhere to the south, not too far from here. Maybe when we find time, I can take you with me to go visit them and I'll introduce you."

"That sounds great." said Korra. "I'd love to meet the rest of your family. Right now though, I'm kind of hungry, let's go eat something."

The group then continued on with their tour and eventually headed off to meet with everyone else, after which they would go and eat lunch together.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Family Ties

It was now later in the day and Korra was in the courtyard of the beach house on Ember Island and was practicing her bending. Bolin then slowly approached her from around the corner of the hallway.

"Hey Korra, so what are you doing?" asked Bolin.

"I'm practicing my airbending." said Korra.

"I've been thinking for the past few days and I've decided on something." said Bolin.

"What would that be?" asked Korra.

"I want you to teach me how to metalbend better." said Bolin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of metal. It was the same one that Bolin had been using for practice. The piece of metal was now covered in several dents, bulges, and cracks. "See, I've been practicing over the past few days and have gotten a little better, but I seem to be having more trouble with it than most other people who can metalbend."

"Maybe it takes a little more time for different people." said Korra.

"Back in Zaofu, you picked it up so easily and within a day, you were doing better than I am after having practiced it for almost a week." said Bolin. "You've always been a quick learner when it comes to bending. Apparently, most Avatars have simply learned how to use all four elements by your age, but take their entire lives to completely master them. It's different for you. Before we had first met, you had already mastered the elements of water, earth, and fire, and now you are close to mastering air. When it comes to the physical side of bending, you have a gift for it."

"I never thought of it that way." said Korra. "Usually everything just came easily to me, and I never realized it."

"I don't think Lin would want to teach me metalbending; she's kind of in a grumpy mood right now." said Bolin. "That just leaves you to help me. What do you say? Can you help me improve my metalbending? If you want to help me, in return, I can try teaching you how to lavabend."

"Of course I'll help you." said Korra. "You don't have to be shy about asking me for help with bending. We're friends, we can help each other."

"That's great." said Bolin. "I'm so happy right now."

"Besides, I've always wanted to try and learn a lot of the sub-bending skills out there." said Korra. "Since I've already mastered three elements and almost mastered the fourth, I have plenty of time to learn some new sub-bending styles."

"Alright, let's get started." said Bolin.

After about an hour and a half of training and practicing with Korra, Bolin was now finally starting to metalbend more like her after she taught him how to get a better feel for the metal and the earth particles within. Bolin was now able to mold the piece of metal into various shapes and could change its form easily.

"You're doing very well Bolin." said Korra. "Keep this up and you'll be metalbending like a pro in no time."

"Thanks for all of your help Korra." said Bolin. "Now I'll try and show you how to lavabend." He put the piece of metal back into his pocket and walked over to a part of the courtyard with many rocks and gathered a few of them. He then brought them over to Korra and dropped them onto the ground. "We'll start with something small and simple; we're going to melt these rocks and turn them into lava."

"How are we going to do that?" asked Korra.

"The trick to lava bending is that it is actually more similar to waterbending than it is to regular earthbending." said Bolin.

"How so?" asked Korra.

"When you are lavabending, it's like you are changing the form and phase of the earth, similar to how you would change regular water from a liquid to a solid like ice or a gas like steam." said Bolin. "Lava is also different from regular earthbending because instead of being a solid like a rock, it is a liquid and behaves like one too, so the way you bend it would have to be different as well. The way I earthbend is actually more fluid than most earthbenders, almost like the movements of a waterbender, and that is a great advantage to helping me bend lava, which is very fluid-like. You're pretty good at waterbending, so that will be very helpful to you."

"Can you show me an example?" asked Korra. Bolin then looked turned towards one of the rocks and began to make a bending motion. The rock then began to melt and became lava.

"You first melt the rock and turn it into lava by increasing the pressure and friction you are adding to the rock." said Bolin. "Eventually, this will create enough heat until the rock becomes lava. You give it a try now."

Korra then attempted to do the same as Bolin to one of the rocks on the ground. After about a few minutes of trying, the rock finally started to liquefy into lava.

"I did it!" Korra said excitedly.

"Good. That was the first step." said Bolin. "Now you know how to create lava. Next I'm going to show you how to bend the lava. Just follow my movements."

Bolin made another bending motion and began to fluidly move the lava around through the air. Korra then began to follow his movements and she too was bending the lava and controlling its movements. They continued practicing together with all of the other rocks until eventually they had formed two small puddles of lava.

"I'm doing it. I'm actually lavabending." said Korra.

"Now for the last step." said Bolin. "Cooling and hardening the lava back into rock. You bend all of the particles of earth and make them lump back together. This will start to remove all of the heat from the lava and it will rapidly cool."

He made a bending motion towards one of the puddles of lava and the lava then hardened into glossy black earth. Korra followed suit and did the same to the other puddle of lava.

"I'm a lavabender now." said Korra.

"Those were just the first few baby steps." said Bolin. "After practicing and training, you'll gradually be able to do lots of other bigger and cooler things with it."

"Thanks for teaching me Bolin." said Korra. "Now I've added lavabending to my list of sub-bending styles that I know. I've been thinking about learning how to lightningbend eventually, but I'm not sure who could teach me. Do you think Mako might be able to?"

"I don't know if he could." said Bolin. "With his arm messed up now, he has trouble being able to maintain lightning for very long, and sometimes it just completely fails. You'll probably have to find someone else to teach you."

"Well that's kind of a bummer. I'm sure I'll find someone to teach me eventually though." said Korra. "Since we're here on Ember Island, why don't we all go and have fun at the beach? I've been wanting to for a swim ever since we got here."

"I'm up for that." said Bolin. "Let's go find everyone else and see if they want to join in." Korra and Bolin then left to go find the rest of their friends.

* * *

Korra and her friends were now happily enjoying themselves at the beach on Ember Island. Just like how they had been planning to, they had gone for a swim in the ocean at the beach. They also did many other things throughout the day, such as building sand castles and playing a game of kuai ball. At one point, they even attended a play that was put on at the theater on Ember Island as they were taking a trip through the town there. Eventually it was nighttime at the beach and there was a large party going on. One of the events at the party was a game of fire jump rope, which seemed to catch Korra's interest.

"Another game of fire jump rope? This looks like fun. I'm going to go play." said Korra. "Any of you want come too?"

"This again?" said Mako. "Do you remember what happened the last time we did this?"

"I know, but I want to try it again." said Korra. "It will be good practice and it will help you build up your agility. You never know if it might come in handy at some point in the future."

"Fine then, I'll try it again." said Mako.

The two of them walked up to the fiery rope and together they began jumping each time it passed under their feet. This time, they did surprising well and managed to do it more than thirty times before they messed up. After they were done, everyone else then attempted to do the same, including Asami, Bolin, Opal, Kai, Jinora, Varrick, and Zhu Li.

"See, it's not so bad." said Korra.

"We seem to have gotten better at it." said Mako. Zuko then appeared next to the two of them.

"You know, Katara's brother Sokka was actually very good at fire jump rope, and he wasn't even a bender." said Zuko. "He once won the trophy for it her on Ember Island."

"I've always wondered, whatever happened to Sokka?" asked Bolin, now coming into the conversation. "He's the only member of the original Team Avatar aside from Aang who we haven't met. Where is he now?"

"Unfortunately, he's no longer alive." said Korra. "There's not much that I really know either. I'll tell you what I do know however. When he was older, he eventually left Republic City and moved to the Southern Water Tribe with his wife Suki. He became the chief and my father worked under him. Sokka was my father's mentor and the two of them were great friends. I only ever met Sokka a few times when I was a kid. He was a very nice man, but apparently he just died one day. Even today, nobody is really sure why he died, and the circumstances behind his death are still unknown, though Katara seemed to know, but didn't seem to want to say anything about it. After he died, my dad became the new chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Well, he didn't technically become the chief until after the whole Water Tribe Civil War was resolved, but he might as well have been. After Sokka died, everyone looked to my father as a leader figure and respected him greatly, so there was really no question of who would be the next chief."

"Maybe it was all the stress he was under. Katara probably knew but didn't want to say anything so as not to make things even worse and panic everyone." said Bolin.

"That seems a bit strange don't you think? Something about it just seems off to me." said Mako. "In the Republic City Police Force, this is what we would usually refer to as "death by suspicious circumstances". Do you think Unalaq or the Red Lotus might have had something to do with it? They might have wanted revenge after Sokka had four of their most prominent members locked away."

"I don't really know." said Korra. "His death could have also just as easily been from old age, but that's probably a mystery we might never know the answer to."

"So what happened to Suki after that?" asked Bolin.

"After what happened to Sokka, Suki was absolutely heartbroken." said Korra. "I had only met her a handful of times, but I still felt really bad for her. I don't think Sokka and Suki had any children, or if they were even able to, so after that, Suki was very lonely. Shortly after, she moved to Kyoshi Island to live out the rest of her life, but it was never the same without Sokka. I heard she died a few years later on Kyoshi Island."

"That's really sad." said Bolin. "I guess you never know what could happen in life, so you should try and make the most out of it."

"We might as well enjoy this vacation while it lasts." said Mako. "Pretty soon we'll probably have to start searching for the Red Lotus and go off to investigate the leads we got." Asami then appeared next to Korra.

"If that's the case, then tomorrow I'll take you with me to go visit my family Korra." said Asami.

"As for right now, we're all going to party." said Korra. The group then returned to the party to see what else was going on.

* * *

It was now the next day and Mako and Bolin were wandering through the beach house as if they were searching for something. Earlier in the day, sometime after Korra and Asami had left, Rohan had wandered off from Pema and seemed to have gotten himself lost, so everyone was now looking for him.

"I wish Korra was here." said Bolin. "She could easily find Rohan using her spiritual sensing powers."

"That would be very useful right about now." said Mako. "By the way Bolin, where have you been? You smell awful."

"Oh that..." Bolin said. "If you haven't heard already, earlier Varrick had gone to the outhouse to use the bathroom, but while he was there, he somehow fell in. He was stuck down there and calling for help until me and Zhu Li heard him and got him out. Needless to say, I'm probably going to need to go take a shower later."

"Varrick is always getting himself into the stupidest situations." said Mako. "I have no idea how Zhu Li is able to put up with him"

After about a few minutes of searching, Mako and Bolin came across Opal and Azula, who had Rohan with them.

"You can stop searching now." said Opal. "Azula found him."

"I found him in the garden behind the house." said Azula. "He seems to have taken a liking to me." She turned towards Rohan. "Now, let's take you back to your mother, little one."

Opal and Azula then left with Rohan, leaving Mako and Bolin to themselves. Now bored, the two of them began to explore the house on their own to see what sort of interesting things they could find. They eventually passed through a room with many pictures hanging on the wall. As he was walking down the hallway, Mako noticed Bolin just standing by the wall and staring at one of the pictures.

"What is it Bolin?" asked Mako. "Is something wrong?"

"Look at this picture Mako." said Bolin. "Does it look familiar to you?" Bolin was looking at a photograph of a woman holding a baby, which was set in a picture frame. Mako then came to see what he was looking at and examined the picture.

"What!?" Mako said, with a look of shock and surprise as he saw the picture. "How is this possible? It can't be. It's..."

* * *

Korra and Asami have now landed on an island to the far south of Ember Island, after having taken a trip there with Korra's sky bison.

"Well, here we are." said Asami. "Are you ready to go meet them?"

"I'm actually a little nervous." said Korra. "You haven't told them about us yet, have you?"

"No, but I will when I introduce you." said Asami. "You already introduced me to your parents and they've accepted us, so now it's time for me to introduce you to my family. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand."

"Okay, I hope you're right." said Korra.

The two of them then started to walk down a path that led through a dense forest on the island. Along the way, the path took them past many different temples and shires and other ancient monuments and structures, as well as various oriental scenery. Eventually, they reached a large house or estate, which was surrounded on all sides by a stone wall. Upon reaching the large wooden gates that were in the wall, Asami grabbed a rope next to the doors and pulled on it, causing a metal bell hanging over the doorway to be rung. About a minute later, the doors opened and on the other side was a middle aged woman who seemed to immediately recognized Asami.

"Asami, is that really you?" asked the woman.

"Yes, it's me, aunt Ayame." said Asami.

"It's been years since the last time you visited." said Ayame. "You were just a young girl then, and now you're a full grown woman." Asami then gave the woman a hug.

"I haven't visited since the year before my father went to prison because of that whole Equalist Crisis." said Asami. "Since I was here in the Fire Nation on vacation, I thought I'd drop by and spend some time with you."

"We'd love to have you over right now." said Ayame.

"Are grandma Hisa and aunt Mariko here too?" asked Asami.

"Yes, they are." said Ayame. "They've been wanting to meet you for a long time. Follow me; I'll take you to them."

Korra and Asami began to follow her and she led them through the house until they reached a lounge room where there was an old woman seated.

"Hello, grandma, it's me Asami." Asami said to the old woman, who then got up and walked towards her.

"My dear Asami, it's so good to see you again." said the old woman. "You've grown so much since I last saw you. You look so much like your mother Yasuko now." Asami and her grandmother Hisa then hugged each other. "Who's this young lady with you? A friend of yours?" She looked towards Korra.

"I'm Korra, you might know me as the Avatar." said Korra.

"Asami, I never knew you were friends with the Avatar." said Hisa. "A lot sure has happened since the last time we met. We were just about to have lunch in the dining hall. Why don't you come and join us? You can tell us all about everything that's happened to you while we eat."

Asami, Korra, Hisa, and Ayame then walked through the house and into a dining room, where seated at a large table were a few other people. Everyone sat down and got ready to eat.

"Everyone, look who decided to join us today." said Ayame. "It's Asami, and with her is her friend Avatar Korra."

Everyone was at first surprised but then warmly greeted the two of them. Asami also went and hugged another woman, her aunt Mariko. Everyone began to converse and started to introduce themselves.

"Right here next to me is my husband Shuro." said Hisa. "You've already met my daughter Ayame, and seated by her is her husband and children." She then turned towards another woman. "Here is my other daughter Mariko and the woman next to her is Nao."

Everyone else then began to introduce themselves, and they all explained a little about their family. Asami seemed to have quite a few male and female cousins that she had never told Korra about, each with their own unique and eccentric personalities; they being the children of Ayame or Asami's other relatives. As it turns out, this side of Asami's family is actually a very prominent and influential family in the Fire Nation and has been ever since the time of Firelord Ozai. They own all of the land on the island they are on and the estate has been in their family for generations. Asami's grandmother Hisa is the matriarch of the family and she had three daughters: Mariko, Ayame, and Asami's mother Yasuko. When she was a young woman, Yasuko had moved to the United Republic where she had met Asami's father Hiroshi Sato, who she married and eventually Asami was born.

"It seems your family has quite an extensive history." said Korra. "I'm not even sure how far back my family's history goes."

"Tell us about what's happened in your life ever since we last saw you." said Ayame. "We'd really like to know what kinds of interesting things have happened to you."

"Okay then, this might take a while." said Asami.

Asami then recounted and explained to them everything that had happened to her all the way from the Equalist Crisis in Republic City to their battle with Kuvira in the city.

"You lost your father as well your mother?" said Ayame. "It must be terrible not having any parents now. You'll always have us though. You can come to us whenever you want to spend time with your family."

"There's also someone else who is like family to me." said Asami. "I'd like you all to get to know her as well." She then looked to Korra, who gave her a node, telling her to go for it. "Not only is Korra my best friend, she is also my life partner and the person that I love."

Everyone seemed a little but surprised at first, but then they seemed like they knew what was coming.

"So Asami, I guess you and I are similar." said Mariko. "If you were scared and worried about telling us, don't be. You have nothing to be afraid and ashamed of. We would have understood completely."

"What are you talking about?" asked Asami.

"I never told you this, but Nao here is actually my lover as well." said Mariko. "When you were a child, you might have thought that the two of us were simply friends, but it was actually much more than that."

Korra then breathed a sigh of relief to herself. She was glad that they seemed to understand everything. Korra and Asami then shared with them the story of how they came to love each other and how they felt for each other. Asami's family actually seemed to be supportive of the two of them, like how they were with Mariko and Nao. They continued to converse with each other and talked about all sorts of things. A few hours passed and after a day of spending time with them, Korra and Asami said their goodbyes and started to leave on Korra's sky bison."

"See, it wasn't so bad, was it?" said Asami.

"I feel as though that was something we needed to go through." said Korra. "It feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest." The two of them flew off into the horizon and back towards Ember Island.

* * *

A few days later, Korra and her friends were in the courtyard of the beach house on Ember Island talking, and some of them were practicing their bending. Iroh then walked into the courtyard to meet them, and following behind him was everyone else who was with Korra.

"I have an update for you all on the search for the Red Lotus." said Iroh. "We now believe that our two leads have been verified and could likely be true. Now we need someone to go and investigate them."

"So it has begun then." said Korra. "Alright, it's time to get ourselves into gear. What do you need us to do?"

"For the first lead, we will need some of you to go and investigate the old, abandoned sanctuary of the Zatsu Tribe, the group which the combustion benders are a part of."

"Asami and I can go and do that." said Korra.

"I'll go with you too." said Tenzin. "Kya, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo, you should probably come too."

"Alright, now who will go to the eastern Fire Nation to investigate the old office building that may still contain war registration records?" said Iroh.

"Bolin and I can go." said Mako. "That sounds like something that would be police work for me. Kai, Opal, maybe you should come with us too."

"I'll come with you too Mako." said Lin. "Bumi, you should come along too; we might need you as well."

"Take me with you too." said Azula. "I know many of the places here in the Fire Nation very well, and my status might help you get access to certain things such as those files."

"That sounds like a good idea Azula." said Asami. "They could probably use your help."

"Everyone else will stay here with me and the Royal Family here on Ember Island just in case something happens." said Iroh. "One more thing, when you are out on your investigations, be careful. It is likely that the Red Lotus may have already caught on to what we are trying to do and they may try to stop you, so be prepared if you run into any of them."

"That sounds like a plan to me." said Korra. "Let's do this. Finally we get to see some action again, just like old times."

Everyone then dispersed and prepared to leave on the sky bison to their respective missions in the Fire Nation.


	14. Chapter Fourteen: The Zatsu Tribe

Korra and Asami were now flying over a large mountain range in the northern Fire nation on Korra's sky bison. They approached what appeared to be a large and ancient temple complex in the mountains and landed there. Soon after, Tenzin, Kya, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo also landed with their sky bison.

"It's actually pretty cold up here." said Korra. "I wasn't expecting this in the Fire nation. I can even see my breath."

"Here in the mountains of the north is the only place in the Fire nation where it snows." said Asami. "So it's no surprise that it would be cold here. Don't worry though; I also brought some warmer clothes for us to wear."

"Oh come on Korra, this cold is nothing compared to what we get at the South Pole." said Kya, in a playful tone.

Asami unpacked the warmer clothes from the sky bison that she had brought with her and then she and Korra put them on. The group of Korra, Asami, Tenzin, Kya, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo then gathered together to begin their objective.

"So this place here and all the surrounding land is where the combustion benders used to live?" said Korra. "Until the other day, I didn't even know that their actual name was the Zatsu Tribe."

All of them then headed towards the ruined and abandoned temple complex and began to search around. The architecture of the large temple seemed to slightly resemble that of the Air Nomads, while also having features of Fire Nation architecture.

"This place feels a little bit like an Air Temple, yet at the same time it doesn't." said Jinora.

"The Zatsu Tribe definitely had some sort of Air Nomad influence when they built this place, which they mixed with their own Fire Nation culture." said Tenzin. "It's quite fascinating."

They continued down the hallways of the temple and passed by many interesting features, such statues of various people, as well as many murals and inscriptions on the temple walls depicting the history of the Zatsu Tribe. As they explored deeper in, they could hear the wind howling through the empty hallways and passages of the temple and in some places could hear the sound of wind chimes being blown. Eventually, they passed through a courtyard and reached a wide open area that led outside. There, they saw what appeared to be some sort of massive graveyard or funeral complex filled with various tombs, gravestones, mausoleums, and stupas.

"What is this place?" asked Korra. "Are all of these the graves of combustion benders and other members of the Zatsu Tribe?"

"This is definitely a sight to behold." said Tenzin. "It's like the old Air Nomad burial sites, but on a slightly larger scale."

"Some of these graves don't even look that old." said Asami. "A few of them look recent, like they were made within the last few decades. This one here looks to be the most recent." Asami pointed out one of the gravestones closest to where they were standing. They approached it and took a look at the inscription.

"It says the person buried here is someone by the name of P'Li." said Tenzin.

"Did you say P'Li?" said Korra. "That was the name of the combustion bender woman who was with Zaheer when the Red Lotus captured me four years ago. She was killed by Suyin during the battle on Laghima's Peak. It seems that since then, someone retrieved her body had it buried here." Korra saw that there were flowers at the gravestone, which looked as though they had been placed there recently.

"That's how she would have wanted it to be." said a voice from behind them. The group was startled and turned around to find a bald, very old looking man, carrying a wooden staff approaching, them from around the corner.

"Oh, sorry." said Korra. "We didn't mean to intrude here upon the temple sanctuary."

"It's alright." said the old man. "It's not often that visitors come here."

"We thought this place was abandoned." said Asami. "We didn't expect to come across anyone here."

"It might as well be abandoned." said the old man. "Only I live here now. All the other members of my clan have either died or have been scattered across the Fire Nation and the rest of the world. Only a handful of us remain now."

"Who might you be?" asked Tenzin. "This is a very interesting place here."

"My name is Moten." said the old man. "I am the oldest surviving member of the Zatsu Tribe. I am also probably the only one left who still knows the full history and traditions of my people. I've lived a very long life, and have endured much suffering and hardship, but I have also gained much knowledge and wisdom."

Korra noticed that across Moten's forehead was a large, dark burn scar, and he seemed to be partially blind in one eye. Most likely there was once a combustion bender's tattoo there on his forehead.

"I'll introduce myself." said Korra. "I am Korra, known by many people as the Avatar."

"So you're the current Avatar then?" said Moten with surprise. "An Avatar was once born among us in the distant past."

"I am Asami Sato." said Asami, also introducing herself."

"My name is Tenzin. I am the son of the previous Avatar, Aang." said Tenzin. "With me here is my sister Kya, and my children Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo."

"So, you're airbenders?" said Moten. "It's been years since I've last seen one. Our people both share a history together, and not too long ago, the airbenders were also in the same boat as us, with so few of them being left in the world."

"I'd be most interested in hearing about the history of the Zatsu Tribe and the combustion benders." said Tenzin. "There's so much about the past that could be learned from you."

"If you really want to, then I guess I could take the time to spread some of my knowledge to you." said Moten. "So, what brings all of you here anyway? Are you here sightseeing?"

"We are searching for information about the Red Lotus." said Korra. "One of our leads brought us here, and it is believed that one of their members could have been from the Zatsu Tribe. In the past, we also encountered a combustion bender by the name of P'Li who was also a part of the Red Lotus."

"I remember her. She grew up here with most of the other members of the Zatsu Tribe." said Moten. "She, like the rest of us had a difficult life, which was made even worse because of the war. When she was a young girl, she along with many other combustion benders were sought after by the warlords who wanted to use them as weapons. P'Li was forced into the service of a brutal warlord by the name of Jushin. One of the things she always wished for was to be able to return home to where she had grown up, but when the war was over, there was no home left for her to return to. All of her family members had been killed and this place was now empty and deserted. Her final wish was that if she was to die, that she would be brought back here and buried in the land of her birth. Some of her kinsman retrieved her body from the Earth Kingdom and brought it back here for burial."

"I never would have guessed she had such an awful past." said Korra. "I kind of feel sorry for her now. Aang must have felt the same way returning to his home only to find it empty."

"As for the other member of the Red Lotus we were referring to, we believe that the man calling himself Xai Bau might be connected to the Zatsu Tribe." said Tenzin.

"So it's about him then?" said Moten, with a sad and mournful look. "I didn't want to believe it at first, but I think I now have a pretty good idea who it is behind the mask of Xai Bau."

"Who could he be then?" asked Korra.

"He is my grandson, Tensu." said Moten. "If he's caused you any pain or grief, please try not to hate him. Knowing everything that's happened to him in the past and understanding his mindset, I can see why he feels the way that he does and why he would want to help the Red Lotus to do what they are attempting here in the Fire Nation. He's quite a tragic figure."

"What happened to him in the past?" asked Korra.

"It's a long and complicated story that has much to do with our history." said Moten. "For centuries, the Zatsu Tribe and the combustion benders have been both honored and revered and at the same time hated and feared through the Fire Nation's history because of their unique bending abilities. We have always been a persecuted minority, especially during the Hundred Year War because of our airbender heritage. After the Air Nomads had been wiped out, the Fire Nation monarchy then began to round up all of the members of the Zatsu Tribe scattered throughout the Fire Nation and kept a close watch on them. It is a known fact that every so often, someone will very rarely be born in the Zatsu Tribe with the ability to airbend rather than firebend. The Firelord was certain that there was a strong possibility that an airbending Avatar could still be born after the Air Nomads were all wiped out, but this time among the Zatsu Tribe. The Firelord knew that there was once an Avatar born among us in the distant past, so he didn't want to take any chances. He didn't kill us though, believing that we could still prove useful, but he definitely didn't make life easy for us."

"There were many terrible injustices committed by the Fire Nation during the Hundred Year War." said Tenzin. "Some of which might never be known now because they have been buried and forgotten in history."

"It was made even worse by the fact that when Firelord Sozin had first begun wiping out the Air Nomads, some of them had escaped, mostly children, and were helped in staying hidden by some of the Fire Sages and Zatsu Tribe members, who were extremely opposed to the Air Nomad Genocide." said Moten. "The escaped airbenders were actually able to stay hidden here in the Fire Nation for quite some time, passing themselves off as Fire Sages and other professions, but years later, the Firelord eventually found out. In the time of Firelord Azulon, the entire Fire Nation was scoured and all of the airbenders in hiding were rounded up and taken away. Those who had been hiding them were severely punished as well. I remember well the day when they came here and rounded up all of the elderly and took them away. I was just a young boy when it happened, and that was the last time I ever saw my grandfather. The elderly never came back after that. I think we all have a pretty good idea what happened to them though."

"That's terrible." said Asami, with an expression of shock. "It's hard to believe that such a dark and awful thing happened in the Fire Nation's past."

"However, when Firelord Zuko came to power, things got a little better for us." said Moten. "He reformed the Fire Nation and changed a lot of its policies, and he even tried to reconcile with the Zatsu Tribe and make peace with us; apologizing for all the wrongdoings committed against us in the past by the Firelords. The years after the Hundred Year War were a great time for us, until the civil war happened. There was fighting all over the Fire Nation, which eventually reached the lands of my people, and many of us were displaced from our homes. Soldiers serving the many warlords also came and abducted many of the combustion benders of our tribe. Two of the people taken were my grandson Tensu and his cousin P'Li, who were forced into the service of Warlord Jushin. Tensu wasn't born with the ability to combustion bend like P'Li was, but they didn't know that and took him as well. Even though he couldn't use combustion bending, he was an excellent firebender, even better than P'Li was, so I guess when they found out, they decided to keep him since he still seemed like he would be of some use to them. I tried to stop the soldiers from taking them, but I wasn't strong enough, and that's how I ended up with this scar, which permanently severed me from my ability to combustion bend, but at least I can still firebend though."

"What happened to all the combustion benders who were taken away?" asked Korra.

"During the war, many of them lost their lives, and those that survived were scattered all over the Fire Nation and the world." said Moten. "P'Li and Tensu had managed to escape their servitude to Jushin, but, nothing would ever be the same for them. Close to the end of the war, Tensu had apparently died in an explosion in one of the battles and had been left for dead by the forces of the monarchy; the very same monarchy he had so loyally fought for in order to defeat the warlords. I thought he had died, and so did everyone else, but one day, he showed up here. He didn't even look human anymore. Almost his entire body had been destroyed and replaced with metal parts. He was like a living machine. When he visited this place, the sweet grandson I once knew and loved was gone. He told me that shortly before he had come here, he had taken his revenge on Warlord Jushin and killed him. He was filled now only with hatred and anger for those who done this to him and he felt betrayed by those who he had once served. He vowed that he would destroy the monarchy and bring down the current system of the Fire Nation. After that he left and I never saw him again. Now years later, this masked man named Xai Bau has shown up and is spouting ideals similar to those of Tensu, so it was obvious to me right away who Xai Bau was."

"In the past I've faced many people who have had their lives ruined in some way because of governments, but nothing like this before." said Korra. "Before, I used to just rush in and fight my enemies without a second thought, but now I actually stop and take the time to learn why they are the way that they are."

"I can't really fault the Red Lotus for doing what they are trying to do here in the Fire Nation, though their methods may be a little extreme." said Moten. "They want to remove the legacy of hatred and violence that has been a part of the Fire Nation's history for generations and replace it with a new and better system."

"So that's how it all started for Tensu?" said Korra.

"There is so much suffering in this world Avatar Korra." said Moten. "Surely there must be something that the Avatar can do about it."

"As the Avatar, I've always tried my best to fix things, now more than ever." said Korra. "The Avatar wasn't there when the Fire Nation needed them the most, but this time, I'll make sure to set things right. However, the Avatar is just one person, and there are some things that even they are powerless to stop alone."

"If you do end up fighting Tensu, I ask that you please try and save him from himself." said Moten. "He may already be dead, but at least he can still let go of all of that hatred and anger before it's too late."

"Well now we know a little more about the man calling himself Xai Bau, but that doesn't really tell us much about the Red Lotus as a whole." said Korra. "Is there anything else you could tell us?"

"No, not really." said Moten. "That's all I know."

"That's okay then." said Korra.

"I guess since we are here, we could at least take a look around and take in the historic scenery." said Tenzin. "Now Elder Moten, I'm interested in hearing about the history of your people."

* * *

Korra and her group spent the next few hours exploring around the temple and seeing what kinds of interesting things could be found there. Everyone was now together in a room that seemed to be some sort of gathering place. Moten was giving them a tour of the temple and explaining each of the rooms as they passed by them. Tenzin, Kya, and Jinora were listening intently to Moten's telling of the history of the Zatsu Tribe as they all walked along through the rooms of the temple.

"It all began thousands of years ago, after the Fire Nation had just finished forming into its own kingdom under the monarchy." said Moten. "At this time, there was a community of firebenders living in the northern part of the Fire Nation. These firebenders were great friends with the Air Nomads living in the lands around the Western Air Temple and they would often visit each other. Some of the firebenders and Air Nomads married each other and those Air Nomads who the firebenders took as spouses moved with them back to the Fire Nation. There they lived together in harmony and built this large temple sanctuary. Eventually, they came to be known as the Zatsu Tribe, and after many generations of intermarrying and intermingling, this eventually led to a strange bending ability showing up in many of their firebender descendants."

"That bending ability was combustion bending right?" asked Jinora.

"Correct, it was." said Moten. "This ability was first discovered when the benders who possessed it found that they could use the air around them to make their flames burn hotter and cause explosions. That in itself was very dangerous to the user and everyone around them, but they found a way to control the blasts and make them even stronger. They did this by channeling their chi to a certain point on their body where a tattoo had been placed, and then firing out in a concentrated blast. This technique required the user to have a great amount of control over their chi in order for it to succeed. At first, the tattoo was placed on the palm of the user's dominant hand, but this proved to not be very effective and it would often backfire, causing the user to lose their hand or even their entire arm. However, a better and less dangerous way was eventually found. This new method involved placing the tattoo on the user's forehead, right on their Light Chakra, and using it as a focal point. From then on, the technique of combustion bending had been almost perfected."

"_Almost perfected?_" asked Korra.

"Yes, there is one small drawback." said Moten. "The bending technique is still rather dangerous, and if the user is not careful, especially at close range, than they could easily end up accidentally injuring or killing themselves. They must also make sure that the chakra on their forehead does not get blocked when they attempt to use it as well. It's also interesting to know that most combustion benders often wore their hair tied back or just shaved their head entirely because of the possibility that their hair could fall in front of their tattoo and cause their aim to be thrown off, or even have the technique backfire completely."

"I guess that's one sub bending style I won't be mastering." said Korra. "At least now I know how the technique works, but I don't think I'll ever use it. I'm not too keen on accidentally blowing myself up."

"One Avatar did master it though." said Moten. The group was now back at the graveyard and Moten was leading them towards a stupa with a statue of a large man with a combustion bender's tattoo on his forehead.

"Who is that a statue of?" asked Jinora.

"That is a statue of Avatar Kotsu." said Moten. "He was the Avatar I was referring to earlier who was born among the Zatsu Tribe. Buried in this stupa here are his ashes. He was an Avatar from many cycles ago in the distant past of the Fire Nation."

"That must have been a very long time ago, maybe even thousands of years ago." said Jinora. "I think I remember reading something about him in a book from one of the Air Temple libraries and also there was something written about him in Wan Shi Tong's Library in the Spirit World."

"He's ginormous, just like the combustion bender lady who was with Zaheer." said Meelo.

"Yes, many people from the Zatsu Tribe are known to grow to reach very tall heights indeed." said Moten. "Though that doesn't seem to have been the case for me and my grandson." Moten laughed a little. "Another common trait you'll find among the Zatsu Tribe is that many of its people often have names ending with the suffix _"su_"."

"What sort of interesting things are there about Avatar Kotsu and his life?" asked Jinora.

"He was known for being a very passive and thoughtful Avatar, but when the time called for it, he could be fierce and would do whatever it took in order to bring balance and peace. He was also known for being very spiritually connected to this world and the Spirit World. However, after his death is when the Zatsu Tribe began to lose its standing in the Fire Nation." said Moten. "He was born a firebender, and the elements of fire and air both came so naturally to him that he had completely mastered them within three years. Many Fire Nation and Air Nomad Avatars often find fire and air to be the two easiest elements for them to master because of how similar they are to each other. They are both free and unattached to anything, unlike water and earth. His mastery over the technique of combustion bending was also superb. He had such great control over it that he was one of the few combustion benders that didn't accidentally injure or kill themselves with it, which resulted in him living to a very old age. He actually had two combustion bending tattoos on his body. One on his forehead, and the other on the palm of his left hand, just like how the old method of the technique was used, though he often kept the one on his hand sealed so as not to accidentally discharge it."

"So he was left handed?" asked Korra. "His other tattoo was on his dominant hand, right?"

"Yes, he was left handed." said Moten.

"If his tattoos were special, did they glow whenever he went into the Avatar State, like how they did for Air Nomad Avatars?" asked Ikki.

"Yes, they did in fact." said Moten." At first they would fire off uncontrollably when it happened, but he eventually learned how to control it. Avatar Korra, do you have good control over the Avatar State?"

"Yes, I do, but I don't really like to use it too much." said Korra. "I used to carelessly go into the Avatar State all the time, but now I only use it when I really need to. The Avatar State is actually supposed to be used only as a last resort and is mainly a defense mechanism. Using the Avatar State takes a lot out of me and often leaves me feeling drained, especially after I was poisoned by the Red Lotus four years ago. I found out that it's not good to use it too much or for extended periods of time because it could shorten my lifespan. Avatar Aang died of old age earlier than he would have normally because all of the time that he spent in the Avatar State while in the iceberg shortened his life and caused him to age faster."

"I see, so that's how it works." said Moten. The group then moved on and Moten stopped at another gravestone, which didn't seem to be as old as some of the others. "Buried here at this grave is a fierce warrior, hunter, and assassin from our tribe by the name of Ganhotsu. He was once sent by Firelord Zuko to hunt down Avatar Aang and his friends during the Hundred Year War. He met his end at the Western Air Temple when he carelessly tried to use his combustion bending when the chakra on his forehead had been blocked, which resulted in his death. His body was eventually retrieved from the cliffs at the Western Air Temple by his kinsman and he was brought back here to be buried. It's kind of ironic how Ganhotsu and P'Li both died at an Air Temple, a place that was once inhabited by people who they share a heritage with."

"Was he just that obsessed with killing the Avatar that he failed to notice the danger he was in?" asked Korra.

"Ganhotsu was never really someone who was known for caution or subtlety, even though he lost an arm and a leg when he first discovered his combustion bending abilities by accident as a child." said Moten. "I met him a few times myself when I was a child, but he wasn't really the talkative type and he never said much. For a long time I actually thought he was mute, but it turned out that he just preferred to stay silent, which was sort of a necessity for his job as an assassin. I don't think he ever spoke his name to others, and since he rarely talked, very few people outside of the Zatsu Tribe knew what his real name was. To tell you the truth, I was actually a little scared of him. All the kids thought he was weird and creepy and they mostly kept their distance from him."

"Hey dad, isn't that the guy you told us that great-uncle Sokka used to call Sparky Sparky Boom Man?" asked Ikki.

"Yes, that was him." said Tenzin, chuckling.

"We've learned a lot of interesting things here, but it's too bad we couldn't really learn anything that would be useful in helping us find the Red Lotus." said Korra.

"I'm getting thirsty." said Moten. "Why don't we head back to my hut and I'll brew us a pot of tea?"

"That sounds great." said Asami.

* * *

The group made their way to the outskirts of the temple, where they came upon an old wooden hut. They went inside and Moten began making the tea while Tenzin conversed with him.

"Aside from the handful of combustion benders left, there are also a few non-bending members of our tribe who are still around and that live in the surrounding area here." said Moten.

"The Zatsu Tribe and the Air Nomads used to be great friends with each other." said Tenzin. "Why don't we try and rekindle that friendship between our people? There are Air Acolytes at the Western Air Temple who could help in rebuilding and refurbishing this place and who would be more than happy to meet the other members of the tribe."

"I kind of like that idea." said Moten. "From what I've heard, some of my non-bender kinsmen seem to have developed airbending abilities after Harmonic Convergence happened a few years ago. They've expressed interest in learning more about airbending and will need a teacher."

"We'd love to teach them airbending." said Tenzin. "Jinora, this sounds like the perfect opportunity for you to test your skills as an airbending master by being able to teach some of your first students. Maybe when they learn airbending, they could live here as if it were one of the Air Temples."

"I'm glad to know that there are people left in the world that I can pass on my knowledge and wisdom to." said Moten. "I have actually started writing down all of the history and knowledge that I know of my people into scrolls and other literature, so that way it would be preserved even after I die."

Moten gestured to a stack of books and scrolls in a shelf near the corner of the room. Asami noticed a picture frame sitting on a desk and walked over to it to get a closer look.

"Are these two people that are standing between the other two people in the picture your grand-niece P'Li and your grandson Tensu?" asked Asami.

"Yes, they are." said Moten. "He gave it to me the last time I saw him when he was here. He told me he didn't really have much use for such an attachment, so he said I should have it to remember him by. They took that picture with two of their friends during the war, before Tensu suffered his horrific injuries." Korra then also went over to the picture to take a look at it, and then something caught her eye.

"Wait a minute, the other two men in the picture, I think I know who they are." said Korra, with a surprised look on her face. "This one to the left looks like my uncle Unalaq, and the man to the right looks a lot like Zaheer. They looked so different when they were younger, but I can still tell that it's them. It's seems so strange seeing them together like this. They all look so happy together. I never thought I would see something like this from Zaheer and Unalaq."

Unalaq and Zaheer were great friends to us." said Moten. "During the war, they, along with the Red Lotus, helped to free the members of the Zatsu Tribe who had been forced into servitude and they gave aid to those who were in need and those whose lives had been shattered by the war."

"I never knew that Zaheer and Unalaq had a past like that." said Korra.

"Zaheer really loved P'Li." said Tensu. "He was devastated by what happened to her. He often comes to visit her grave here. He's the one who put those flowers there recently."

"Wait, he was here!?" asked Korra with surprise. "When was that?"

"He was here a few days ago." said Moten. "He has an interesting new bending ability. They call him Monk Gyatsuboro the Wind Walker now, because of how he can move through the air, almost like feather."

"So we just missed him." said Tenzin. "If we had run into him, we could have maybe captured him and gotten more information about the Red Lotus from him."

"Did he mention anything about where he was going before he left this place?" asked Korra.

"He said something about returning to lands of the Air Nomads in the west to go and look upon something from the past." said Moten. "That's all he really mentioned. It seemed to me like the place he was going to holds some sort of special significance to him."

"It sounds like the Western Air Temple could be where he is headed." said Jinora.

"Why would he go there?" asked Tenzin.

"I guess now we know where we're going to next." said Korra. "It seems this lead could still yet prove useful.

The group finished their tea and stayed for one more hour and then got ready to leave.

"It's been nice talking with you Moten." said Tenzin. "I'm sure we'll see each other again someday. Now we really must be leaving."

"Take care." said Moten. "If you see my grandson, please try and convince him to stop what he's doing and just come back home."

"I'll try, but I can't make any guarantees." said Korra.

"If we hurry, we might be able to catch up to Zaheer in time." said Asami.

They all headed back to their sky bison and started to leave the temple in the mountains.

"I wonder how Mako, Bolin, and the others are doing." said Korra.

"Hopefully they're also having some luck with their lead as well." said Asami.

As they flew away, they all took one last look at the temple as it faded away into the horizon.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: War Scars, Part One

Mako, Bolin, Kai, Opal, Lin, Bumi, and Azula were now on the outskirts of a town on an island in the far eastern reaches of the Fire Nation, after having landed there earlier on their sky bison. They had been walking around the town and surrounding area for the past hour and a half, and were trying to figure out where they were supposed to go.

"Where are we Mako?" asked Bolin. "Are we lost?"

"I'm pretty sure this town is where it's supposed to be." said Mako, who was intently looking over a map to see if they had gone to the right place.

"This is just like how we use to always get lost in Republic City after the Spirit Wilds first appeared." said Bolin. "Even now we would still sometimes get lost during something as simple as just going to get groceries."

"Great. That's encouraging." said Lin. "We're lost in the middle of nowhere."

"This is just like being lost in that huge supermarket from the capital city all over again." said Kai, groaning.

"Azula, do you think this is the right place?" asked Mako.

"It should be here." said Azula. "This place still looks the same way I remember it. I've been just about everywhere in the Fire Nation, including here, and I'm certain we are in the right place."

"I don't know about you Mako, but I think her old age might finally be catching up with her." Bolin whispered to Mako.

"Maybe we should ask one of the locals here for directions?" Opal suggested.

"I guess it's worth a shot." said Mako. "It's better than spending the whole day running around in circles. What do you think, Chief?"

"I'd say go for it." said Lin. "We've never been to the Fire Nation before, so we're unfamiliar with the surrounding area here. It's probably a good idea to ask people who have been living here their entire lives for some directions."

The group went into the town and eventually came across a marketplace and in it they found an area with chairs and tables where many people were seated and eating. They approached one of the tables where three elderly people, two men and a woman, were seated.

"Excuse me, would any of you three folks be able to give us some directions?" said Mako. "We're not from around here, and we seem to be lost."

The three turned around to face them, and then seemed surprised to notice someone from their group.

"Hello there Azula." said the old woman. "It's been a while since the last time I've seen you."

"Yes, it has been a long time On Ji." said Azula.

The two old men also seemed to know Azula and the four of them greeted each other like old friends.

"Do you know these people Azula?" asked Mako.

"Yes, we go back a long way." said Azula. "I've been to this town several times in the past and since then, I have become great friends with them."

"This is like one of those small towns where everyone knows everyone." said On Ji. "The three of us here became friends when we went to school together, and we have been ever since then. Later in our lives we met Azula and have become friends with her as well."

"I guess out here it's a small world after all." said Bolin. "So who are you guys?"

"My name is On Ji." said On Ji. "Here in this town, I am the headmaster of the nearby school. Azula has actually visited my school several times in the past in order to speak with the students."

"My name is Hide." said one of the two old men. "I used to be an officer in the Fire Nation Army, but eventually I decided to retire. After that, I had sort of a creative streak and in my free time, I create art. It's sort of strange. Nobody would have guessed I had something like that in me."

"As for me, I'm Shoji." said the other old man. "I'm the librarian and record keeper here in this town."

"Record keeper?" said Mako. "It sounds like you might be someone who could help us find what we're looking for."

"We are looking for the place in this town where records were kept during the civil war." said Azula. "We are conducting an urgent investigation and we may need to see those records."

"It sounds like something important." said Hide.

"So you're looking for the old Imperial War Registration Office?" said Shoji. "The building where it used to be was right next to the library where I work now. However, a few years back, the building was demolished, but you're in luck because the records were all moved to the basement of the library before then."

"No wonder we couldn't find it." said Lin. "We were looking for a building that doesn't exist anymore."

"That could also turn out to be a thing good for us." Mako whispered to Lin. "There's a chance that the Red Lotus doesn't know about it because of that."

"Can you take us there?" asked Azula.

"Of course I can, especially for someone of the royal family." said Shoji. "We'll go when we finish our lunch here."

A few minutes later, when they had finished their lunch, Shoji said goodbye to his two friends at the table and he left with Azula, Mako, Bolin, Kai, Opal, Lin, and Bumi, and led them through the town towards the library where the records were being kept.

* * *

The group was now inside the library on the first floor of the building. In the main area, there was a statue of the firebending master Jeong Jeong, whom the library was dedicated to, and all around them were shelves of books as far as they could see. They followed Shoji as he led them to a doorway at the back of the library with a locked metal grate over it. Behind the grate, they could see a set of stairs that led down into a lower level of the building, most likely the basement. Shoji used a key to unlock the grate and then opened it.

"They should be right down here." said Shoji, gesturing for them to follow him down the stairs into the basement.

When they reached the bottom, they found several rooms filled with shelves and file cabinets, containing books, documents, files, and other forms of records.

"Now we just start searching." said Azula.

"It looks like we might be here a while." said Mako. "There's going to be a lot of information to dig through."

The group then began their search through all of the documents in order to find the information they were looking for. They were there for several hours, and some of them had gotten bored and were now looking through some books in order to pass the time. Mako, taking a break because his arm had started to hurt and go numb, noticed that Bolin, Kai, Opal, and Bumi were all gathered around a book and were looking through it. Curious as to what it was, Mako approached them.

"Well, it looks like we haven't gotten anywhere with the search so far." said Mako. "What are you guys doing anyway? What's that book you all seem to be so interested in?"

"It's a book about a strange and unique group of benders from the Fire Nation's history called the Zatsu Tribe." said Opal.

"It's really quite interesting." said Bumi. "Apparently they have a history with the Air Nomads."

"Wait, the Zatsu Tribe?" said Mako. "Isn't that the name of the people the combustion benders are from?" Mako then had a look of realization on his face. "Combustion benders, that's it!" He then went to go find Shoji, who was looking though some files in the other room. "Hey Shoji, I just had an idea that could make the search go faster for us."

"What is it?" asked Shoji.

"Instead of looking through every single file for every person here, just find all of the files of people who were combustion benders or members of the Zatsu Tribe." said Mako. "We know Xai Bau is likely one of those people, so this should greatly narrow down the list for us."

After about a few minutes, Shoji had fetched all of the files fitting the criteria and brought them before Mako, Bolin, Kai, Opal, Lin, Bumi, and Azula. In total there were about ten files to search through now. Mako quickly looked through all of the files, eliminating them one by one until he arrived at one with a description that seemed to match the Xai Bau that he had encountered.

"This is definitely the guy we fought on the night of the festival." said Mako. "Everything about him seems to fit."

"What does it say about him?" asked Lin.

"It says that he was a guy by the name of Tensu from the Zatsu Tribe, who lived in the mountains of the northern Fire Nation." said Mako. "When he was young, he and a lot of his other tribe members were kidnapped by various warlords and enslaved. Around the time when the civil war broke out, he was freed from his captivity to a warlord named Jushin. Eventually, he decided to enlist in the Fire Nation Imperial Army and fight back against the warlords who had ruined his life and reunite the Fire Nation. He had dedicated himself the Fire Nation government and fought in many battles."

"How did he end up as Xai Bau of the Red Lotus if he was so loyal to the Fire Nation?" asked Bolin.

"There seem to be gaps of information at certain points in his life where almost nothing is known about him." said Mako. "The strangest part of all is that he is listed as having been killed in action."

"What, how can that be?" asked Lin.

"It was during one of the last battles of the war that he had been tasked with defending a certain key point and covering the retreat of the monarchy and other important members of the Fire Nation government." said Mako. "Many soldiers died in that battle, and it was seen as one of the Fire Nation government's biggest failures during the war. Tensu apparently died in an explosion during the battle and lost his life."

"He must have survived somehow." said Lin. "Now he has shown up years later with his body almost completely replaced with metal parts. Someone must have rescued him when he was on the brink of death and rebuilt him into the half man, half machine that he is now."

"That must have been where things changed for him." said Mako.

"The war veteran protesters often mentioned that battle as one where the monarchy had carelessly allowed so many to lose their lives and that it was one of the many signs that the government did not care about the people." said Azula.

"I see now." said Bolin. "Tensu must feel bitter and betrayed by the Fire Nation after being left behind in the battle as he and most of the other soldiers died. Now he resents the monarchy and government just as much as he did the warlords who had enslaved him."

"When the war ended, a few of the warlords had ended up avoiding being charged for their crimes and had gotten off easy and received political immunity." said Azula. "Warlord Jushin was one of those warlords who had escaped prosecution. Not long after, it was discovered that he had been killed and the assassin was never caught. It must have been Tensu who did it, enacting his revenge on the man who had enslaved him."

Mako looked through the file some more to see what else he could find. He then stumbled across something surprising. It was a photograph that seemed to have been taken of a large group of soldiers.

"This must have been a picture that he took with his unit back when he served in the war." said Mako. "Here he is in middle row." Mako pointed him out in the photograph. Azula then seemed shocked, noticing something else in the photograph.

"Look here at this part of the photograph." said Azula, pointing someone else out. "That man there, I'm almost certain that it's Zuko's grandson, Iroh. He looks just like how I remember he looked twenty years ago."

"Iroh did serve in the civil war back then." said Mako. "So it seems that Iroh and Tensu were in the same unit."

"Well now, what are the chances of that?" said Bumi.

"Iroh probably has no idea that he served with Tensu in the war and that Xai Bau is someone he's met before in the past." said Azula.

"This is definitely a surprising development." said Lin. "We'll have to ask Iroh about this and have him tell us what he knows."

"We should probably take this file with us." said Mako. He then turned towards the group with an expression of relief. "Well, it looks like we got what we came for, so now our work here is done."

"Finally, now we can get out of this old, dusty room." said Bolin. "Anyone want to go to town and eat something? I haven't eaten anything all day, so I'm starving."

"I guess since we're here, we might as well have a look around the town." said Mako.

Everyone seemed to share Bolin's sentiment and they all said their farewells to Shoji and left the library to go out into the town.

* * *

The group was now taking a look around the town after having eaten at one of the outdoor restaurants there. They were traveling down one of the narrow side roads and not many people were around.

"It seems everyone is going home now that sunset is approaching and the day is almost over." said Bolin.

"This trip seemed to be somewhat productive." said Mako. "Although we didn't really learn anything about the Red Lotus, we got a lot of information on one of their key members."

"Let's just go back to Ember Island now." said Lin. "The quicker we get out of here, the better."

The group then started to head back to the outskirts of the town where their sky bison were waiting. They were completely unaware that right around the corner they were about to turn, there were three dangerous people who they were about to cross paths with on their way out.

Right around the corner of the street were the Red Lotus members Tensu, Sanken, and Mei-Ling. They had come to this town earlier in the day in order to meet with some of their supporters in the anti-monarchy movement in a secret rally and discuss their goals. When the meeting had finished, they had set out on a secondary objective, which was to locate and destroy any records left from the war that could potentially reveal Tensu's identity.

"Tensu, was this a big waste of time?" asked Mei-Ling "We couldn't find it anywhere."

"It should have been there Mei-Ling." said Tensu. "I was once here a long time ago and I saw it."

"It's like the whole place just vanished." said Mei-Ling. "Even Sanken couldn't find it with his seismic sensing. On top of that, the Avatar wasn't here either like we had predicted."

"My guess is that the building doesn't exist anymore." said Sanken. "We just wasted the whole day wandering around this stupid town and didn't accomplish anything. I'm tired and my feet hurt from all of this walking. I guess all we can do now is go back empty-handed and tell Xai Bau the bad news."

"Where did Zaheer go anyway?" asked Mei-Ling. "I thought he was going to come with us?"

"He said that he had something he needed to do somewhere." said Tensu. "He wasn't very specific about it, but he said that he'll probably be back in a few days."

As Tensu, Mei-Ling, and Sanken rounded the corner of the street, they had no idea they were about to come across the group of Mako, Bolin, Kai, Opal, Lin, Bumi, and Azula.

"Hey Mako, this trip wasn't all that bad." said Bolin. "At least we didn't come across any members of the Red Lotus like we thought we were going to. That thought was at the back of my mind the whole time we were here, but I guess now I can put it to rest since we're almost out of here."

Right then, around the corner came the other group of Tensu, Mei-Ling, and Sanken, and right away the two groups noticed each other and were caught off guard by the other's presence. Bolin gasped in shock at what had just happened.

"Bolin, why do you always have to say stuff like that?" asked Mako. "You always jinx everything."

"Well now, look who it is." said Tensu, almost sarcastically. "It's the friends of the Avatar. We were hoping she would be here as well, but it seems she didn't come with you."

Everyone from both groups then jumped to the ready and put up theirs guards, preparing for the inevitable battle. Mako could see that Tensu was still wearing the same mask he wore on the night of the festival, though the bottom half of it was now gone, the result of the damage Azula had done to it with her plasma bending, and he could see part of his mouth and a metal plate in the area that wasn't covered by the mask. To Mako, he still looked as creepy as ever, and almost reminded him of Amon a little bit.

"Why is the Red Lotus here?" asked Mako. "We're you sent to stop us? What are you planning Xai Bau."

"I guess there's no harm in telling you now since the plan didn't go right to begin with." said Tensu. "We were looking for a certain place in order to find something."

"I think I know what you were looking for." said Mako. Mako then found an opportunity to try and throw them off the trail. "Sorry to tell you this, but the records office caught fire several years ago and burnt to the ground along with all of the records. There's nothing left now to be found."

"Normally, a simple story like that would sound pretty convincing, but I can tell that you're lying." said Sanken. "I can read if someone is lying or not with my seismic sensing abilities."

"Looks like you got me then." said Mako.

"Even if the place isn't there anymore, you probably found something useful didn't you?" said Tensu.

"We know all about you and your past now Xai Bau." said Mako. "You're real name is actually Tensu isn't it? You were once a soldier who was thought to have died in battle during the civil war."

"I guess the cat is out of the bag now." said Tensu. "It's pointless to try and keep things a secret now. Knowing though won't change anything now at this point. Our plans will still continue to move forward regardless."

"Tensu, why are you doing this?" asked Azula. "How did someone who was once a proud and loyal soldier of the Fire Nation go so wrong to the point where they now want to destroy everything the Fire Nation stands for?"

"Why you ask?" said Tensu. "I'll tell you why. After the battle near Kotei City, my eyes were finally opened to the truth. I was left there to die by the monarchy and government that I had for years so diligently served, and so were many other soldiers like me. During that battle I came close to death after my fatal injuries. Actually, in a way, I did in fact die there. My old, naive self died there when I realized that those who ran the Fire Nation had never really cared for its people or their well-being. They only used us for their own gain in that war of political ideologies, and when we had served our purpose and we were no longer of any use, they callously left us behind to die while they fled like the cowards they were. I realized that they were no better or different from the warlords who had torn the Fire Nation apart with their insurgency."

"But why this?" asked Azula. "Will destroying all of the peace and equality that we've had since the war really solve anything?"

"Was there ever really peace and equality in the Fire Nation to begin with?" said Tensu. "The history and fate of both the Zatsu Tribe and the Air Nomads is testament to that fact. Things will never change for the better if we leave them as they are now. After I survived that battle, I realized that you can't count on things like governments or monarchies to solve anything. If you want to change things, you have to do it yourself, with your own hands. After the Fire Nation betrayed me, I realized that my only true friends that I could count on were the Red Lotus. With all of us together, united by our great leader Xai Bau, we will change the destiny of the Fire Nation and its people, and in doing so, change the world for the better."

"It seems then that you are dead set on doing this and that no amount of convincing will be able to stop you." said Azula.

"So now what are you going to do?" said Mako. "There's no way we're going to let you Red Lotus members escape from here and continue with your plans. Especially not when we have you right here in our grasp."

"It looks like we're going to have to fight then." said Tensu. "Just try and stop us. We were also told by our leader that if we were to encounter any of the Avatar's friends during our missions, that we should eliminate them in order to prevent them from interfering with our plans. Are you ready to be defeated again like last time?"

"We'll see who loses this time." said Mako.

"Enough talking. Now we will let our actions speak for themselves." said Tensu.

The groups then quickly dispersed and began fighting and ferociously bending at each other. Bolin then seemed to notice the boy with Tensu.

"Hey, haven't I seen you before?" Bolin asked the boy. "Wait; are you that boy Sanbei that I met at the festival?"

"So you recognize me?" said Sanken. "Yes, that was me."

"You're a part of the Red Lotus?" Bolin asked with a sad look. "But why? How could you do something like this?"

"I have my reasons." said Sanken. "By the way, my real name is actually Sanken, just to let you know."

"If this is how it has to be then so be it." said Bolin. "But I'll never forget what you did for me, so thank you for that."

Mako then also noticed the woman with Tensu and Sanken. She was dressed in the attire of a Kyoshi Warrior, which Mako immediately recognized; though this time she was without her facepaint.

"Hitsumi?" asked Mako. "Don't tell me that's you. You're a member of the Red Lotus too?"

"So we meet again Mako." said Mei-Ling, with a smile. "Yes, I'm a part of the Red Lotus too. By the way, my real name is actually Mei-Ling, just like the Avatar the festival was named after."

"I never would have thought someone like you would be with the Red Lotus." said Mako.

"I too have my reasons for doing this." said Mei-Ling. "However, now that we must part ways, I want you to know that even though our time together was short, I did enjoy it Mako."

Lin then took notice of Sanken and joined Bolin in fighting him.

"I remember you." said Lin angrily. "You're the kid that sent me flying into a pillar like a rag doll back at the palace. I'm going to pay you back for doing that to me."

"Be careful Lin." said Bolin. "His appearance may fool you, but he's actually a powerful earthbender. Don't let your guard down around him."

"Wow Sanken." said Mei-Ling. "You beat Lin Beifong in a fight? I'm impressed."

"Wait, you're Lin Beifong? The daughter of Toph Beifong?" said Sanken with a look of surprise, which then turned to seriousness. "If that is true, and knowing how skilled you are, then that means it was just pure luck when I managed to knock you out before."

"That's right." said Lin. "You just caught me off guard that time. One thing you should know about me though, I never make the same mistake twice."

"It should be interesting fighting you now." said Sanken. "I love testing my skills against powerful earthbenders."

Sanken and Lin then began earthbending towards each other, causing much destruction to the surrounding area. Also battling nearby were Mako, Azula, Kai, Opal, and Bumi, who were fighting against Tensu and Mei-Ling. Mako and Tensu were firebending at each other with great ferocity, and neither one of them was moving from where they were.

"You're quite tenacious, aren't you?" said Tensu. "Fine then, I'll try this." Tensu then made a bending motion and started sending blasts of air towards Mako. "I may not be able to combustion bend, but since I can use airbending with this body, I can do this, which is just as deadly." After having the air swirl up into heavy gusts, Tensu then firebended right into them. The result of the fire mixing with the rapid air currents was a large explosion that forced Mako's group to get out of the way to avoid it.

Tensu then began to create even more explosions by mixing fire and air and continuously sent them towards Mako's group. As one came towards then, Bumi used his airbending to push it away at the last minute. Bumi was then joined by Kai and Opal who sent several gusts of air towards Tensu.

"Wait, don't use your airbending on him!" Mako called out.

It was too late however. As the blasts of air approached Tensu, he firebended right into them, causing them to violently explode, which he then sent back into the direction they came from. Everyone took cover as the explosions came back. Mako and Azula then tried to attack and rushed towards Tensu, who then stopped creating explosions and started to use his firebending on them. As they got close and began shooting fire towards him, Tensu started to bend their flames and redirected them back at them. They then tried again to get closer to him, but he created a thin sphere of fire around himself, which he then shot outwards towards them, forcing the two of them to quickly move back. He then created more explosions and directed them towards Mako and Azula, which forced them to again take cover with the others.

"How is he able to do that?" asked Opal, hiding behind a piece of debris.

"Airbending isn't much good against him." said Mako. "It seems he can create something similar to combustion bending by rapidly combining fire and air to create deadly explosions in midair. If you use your airbending on him, he'll just turn that into an explosion and send it right back at you. However, it's not concentrated like combustion bending is; instead it just spreads out wildly in every direction."

"It looks like we're in a tight spot since we can't fight him directly with our bending." said Bumi.

"Even if he can't truly combustion bend like P'Li, his regular firebending is on a whole other level than hers." said Mako. "It's stronger and more deadly, so watch out for it too."

"If that's the case then it seems all we can do is just evade his attacks for now." said Kai.

"We could try to fight him up close." said Mako. "Whenever anyone of us gets near him, he immediately stops creating explosions and switches to regular firebending. It seems he knows not to make the same mistake that P'Li did. If we can force him to stop creating explosions by moving in close to him, we might stand a chance."

Tensu then sent more explosions towards them, causing them all to scatter. In the ensuing chaos of the battle, everyone became separated.


	16. Chapter Sixteen: War Scars, Part Two

After blindly running around through the dust and debris from the battle, Mako and Azula found themselves inside of an old building, far away from the others, where they had decided to take cover. The room they were in was dark and they could barely see anything.

"It looks like we got separated from everyone else." said Azula.

As they were getting a feel for where they were, many of the things inside the room of the old wooden building suddenly burst and fell apart, as if they had been sliced up. Mako then noticed that throughout the room there were several thin metal wires, which then started to move and slice up more objects as they came closer to them. Mako and Azula evaded the onslaught of sharp wires and were now at the back of the room. They heard footsteps and out from the doorway came the person who was manipulating the deadly wires; the Kyoshi Warrior Mei-Ling.

"It looks like you two will be my opponents now that we've been separated from the battle outside." said Mei-Ling. She then manipulated the wires again with her fingers and tried to cut Mako with them, but he nimbly jumped, dodged, and evaded them.

"Are these annoying wires your way of fighting us?" asked Mako.

"Don't worry, this fight is far from over." said Mei-Ling. "These aren't my only weapons."

Mei-Ling then retracted all of the wires back to her and quickly wrapped them up and stashed them away in her outfit. She then pulled out a small scythe-like weapon, which was attached to a chain, at the end of which was a metal weight. She then began to swing the chain around and threw it in the direction of Mako. Mako continued to evade it as she attempted to entangle Mako with it.

"You're quite good at evading my attacks." said Mei-Ling.

"It looks like Korra might have been right." Mako said to himself. "Practicing that fire jump rope game seems to have been helpful."

Outside, a loud explosion could be heard, and shortly after that, the ground shook a little bit. Mei-Ling didn't even flinch, almost as if she knew exactly what was going on.

"It seems like Tensu and Sanken are going wild out there." said Mei-Ling. "Your friends might be in some serious trouble fighting those two monsters."

Mako seemed to get slightly angry, which gave Mei-Ling an opening, seeing that he had brought his guard down at that moment. Mei-Ling then rushed towards Mako and began attacking with the scythe part of her weapon. Mako firebended towards her in an effort to keep her from getting close enough to cut him. He got her to drop her weapon and the two began to fight each other in hand to hand combat. She then pulled out her two iron fans and started using those to fight. Azula then joined in the fray and began firebending towards Mei-Ling as well.

Mei-Ling was easily able to maneuver around the much older Azula and quickly got behind her. She then gave her several jabs from behind at various points on her body. Azula found that she was now was unable to firebend, so then Mako came to her rescue. After exchanging several blows, Mako too was struck with several jabs inbetween each attack, including on his left arm. Both Mako and Azula now could no longer use their firebending for the time being and were defenseless.

"You're a chi blocker." said Mako. "I've encountered people like you before."

"It's one of the many skills I learned on Kyoshi Island." said Mei-Ling. "There's something strange about that left arm of yours though. It seems that the flow of chi to it has been severely disrupted. Just what exactly did you do to get a nasty injury like that?"

"I got it while defending Republic City from Kuvira." said Mako. Azula then seemed to focus her attention on Mei-Ling.

"There's something familiar about you young lady." said Azula. "I've seen you're fighting style and chi blocking techniques before. Also there that strange necklace you are wearing." Mako then took notice of the necklace that Mei-Ling was wearing, which had a single pink gemstone hanging from it. "That looks just like a necklace that one of my friends once wore. Her name was Ty Lee, and she had a necklace just like that made for her when she was an adult."

"You knew my grandmother, Ty Lee?" asked Mei-Ling. "You must be Azula then." Azula now seemed to be noticeably shocked.

"I never knew she had a granddaughter." said Azula. "It's been years since I last saw her. Whatever happened to Ty Lee? I haven't heard from her in such a long time."

"You mean you don't know?" said Mei-Ling, with a puzzled look. "She died several years ago. When I was a young girl living on Kyoshi Island, she took care of me and taught me everything about the ways of the Kyoshi Warriors. Shortly before she died, she passed on this necklace to me and said she wanted me to have it."

"So she's dead then?" said Azula, with a sad look. "I never even knew."

"I guess news can travel slowly from certain parts of the world." said Mei-Ling.

"You do sort of look like her." said Azula. "You even seem to have some of her personality quirks."

Mako tried to picture in his head how this woman, who seemed to be about the same age as him, could actually be related to Ty Lee.

"How does the granddaughter of Ty Lee end up as a member of the Red Lotus." asked Mako, who was now very surprised and confused at this new revelation. "It seems like a strange fate for someone with such a famous relative."

"The Red Lotus isn't entirely what you think it is." said Mei-Ling. "Not all of the members of the Red Lotus are the way the world have made us out to be."

"Does you joining the Red Lotus have to do with what happened on Kyoshi Island four years ago during Kuvira's reign?" asked Mako.

"My past and reasons for joining are my own." said Mei-Ling, who now seemed slightly agitated. "I don't regret joining them." Mei-Ling then began to take notice of the sounds of police sirens coming from outside. "It's seems that I can't stay here fighting you two much longer. Goodbye Mako, I'll see you around."

Mei-Ling then set off a smoke bomb she pulled out and quickly fled the room to go and regroup with her comrades. She made her way outside as Mako and Azula chased after her, wondering why she didn't finish them off. Mei-Ling got onto a motorcycle that her group had parked nearby earlier and started it. As they caught up, she began to drive away on the motorcycle, and then Mako noticed that something was caught around his leg.

It was part of the chain from the weapon Mei-Ling had used earlier, which she had taken with her as she fled. Part of it had dragged behind her when she was running and when Mako had reached her, it had unintentionally gotten wrapped around his leg. When he noticed this as the motorcycle was leaving, Mako realized it was already too late to do anything about it and he braced himself for what was about to happen.

Mako was then viciously pulled along by the chain wrapped around his leg and the motorcycle began to drag him across the ground as Mei-Ling was driving away. Mako called out to Azula for help and she began to run after them. However, due to her old age, she was unable to keep up and was quickly left behind as they sped away.

* * *

Elsewhere during the battle in the town, the airbenders Bumi, Kai, and Opal were trying their best to avoid Tensu's firebending and explosive attacks, but were quickly being pushed back. Nearby, Lin and Bolin were still fighting against Sanken, trying to gain some ground against him.

"You know, I once encountered your mother during my travels when I had come across a strange swamp." said Sanken. "I wanted to see how good she was, so I challenged her to an earthbending battle." Lin seemed noticeably surprised. "She defeated me easily, of course, but afterwards she told me that I had great potential and that I could become as strong as her one day in the future when she was long dead."

"I can't imagine she had much to say to you." said Lin.

"I did manage to pick up a few moves from her when we fought." said Sanken.

They continued fighting and hurling rocks towards each other. As they fought, the two closely examined each other and their techniques, looking for the slightest opening or weakness to strike at.

"The way he fights, it's almost like he's a non-blind version of Toph." said Bolin, now stopping to catch his breath behind some cover. "He might not be as strong as her, but he's still dangerous in his own way."

Bolin rejoined the fight and began to once again assist Lin in fighting Sanken. As Lin started to get closer to Sanken, he reacted immediately and sent several rocks flying towards her, which forced her to get further away from him.

"It seems like you pick up new moves from every strong earthbender you fight." said Lin. "However, I think I might be starting to notice a flaw in your technique." Lin then started to grin. "You always seem to try as hard as you can to make sure that nobody gets too close to you. Now why could that be?"

Sanken then had a look of surprise on his face, almost as if he was shocked that Lin had found something out.

"Ah, so it seems you've been found out." said Lin.

"Now it makes sense." said Bolin. "When he fought all of those earthbenders in the contest at the festival, I don't think I ever saw a single one of them manage to get anywhere near him before they were defeated. At first I thought it was because he was just that good, but thinking about it now, he was deliberately making sure that he kept them at a distance from him with his earthbending."

"It seems like you keep all of your opponents at a distance because you don't want to face them up close." said Lin. "The reason behind this is because you're trying to hide a major weakness in your bending isn't it?"

"It must be because Sanken is physically weak." said Bolin. "He doesn't stand a chance in close quarters fighting or hand to hand combat, so he tries to prevent that from happening by making sure his opponents can't get close enough to him for that to happen in the first place."

"If that's the case, then I know how we can beat him." Lin said to Bolin.

The two of them looked at each other as if they both knew what they were thinking. They both charged towards Sanken and started to close in on him from both sides. As they got closer, Sanken hurled several rocks at them in frustration, and then in a last ditch effort, he made a wall of earth around himself to try and keep them separate from him.

"Tensu!" Sanken called out. "You know what to do."

Within a few moments, Tensu, who was battling nearby, ran over to Sanken and jumped to his aid before Lin and Bolin could reach him. He sent out a large blast of fire towards them, which they then dodged. Before they could recover, Tensu was already in reach of them and he began to engage them in hand to hand combat. As he fought them, Sanken began to assist Tensu with his earthbending. With his enhanced speed and strength, Tensu was beginning to overpower the two of them. From out of his metal arm, Tensu made a blade came out, which he then used to slash at Lin in an attempt to cut her. Lin evaded the blade with every slash, ducking and swerving until she finally got close enough to him in order to use her metalbending. Lin made a bending motion, and with a movement of her hand, she caused the blade to snap in two and fall to the ground, removing it as a threat to her in the fight.

"I know your weakness too, you metal monstrosity." said Lin. "It was a mistake fighting me. Your entire body is almost completely made out of metal, which I can bend easily."

As Lin made a bending motion and tried to bend the metal on Tensu's body, she found that the force of her bending was being repelled, almost as if by some magnetic force that was now surrounding Tensu's body. She turned and found that Sanken was the one overpowering her attempt to metalbend Tensu. She was then hit from behind by a flying rock, which caused her to release her grip on Tensu and she turned to face Sanken again. She and Bolin then tried to make a run for Sanken again, but as they got close, they were again stopped by Tensu who began to fight them off in hand to hand combat.

"Why would you fight a strong metal bender like me when you have such an obvious weakness?" asked Lin.

"My body may be made out of metal, making me vulnerable to metalbending, but it's a risk I'm willing to take." said Tensu. "Platinum might seem like an obvious alternative to this problem because it couldn't be metalbended, however platinum is a very weak metal and it could easily be broken with physical force. Metal parts made out of platinum are not strong enough and would not be able to handle the strain that is constantly put on my body and would break easily from wear and tear. There is also the fact that platinum is very expensive and hard to come by. I never really had much reason to worry before because here in the Fire Nation, there aren't many metalbenders to begin with, and even if I did come across one, I would have Sanken to protect me. For me, the benefits outweigh the risks."

Tensu and Sanken then rushed back towards Lin and Bolin and started to fight them again. Bolin decided to try lavabending against Tensu and started to bend several rocks nearby and levitate them around himself. The rocks began to heat up and liquefy into lava while in the air and he began to quickly fire pieces of molten rock at Tensu in an attempt to hit him with them. Tensu evaded many of the deadly molten projectiles that Bolin fired at him, but he could dodge them all and some of them managed to hit him. It didn't seem much of an effect though, as Bolin could hear the pieces of hot rocks clanging against the metal parts of Tensu's body and then fall off onto the ground, while some of them became embedded in his metal body. While Bolin could easily create more lava to use, he was being careful to go overboard with his lavabending and cause too much destruction to the surrounding area because he was aware that the surrounding buildings were mostly occupied by innocent people and other bystanders.

As Tensu was distracted by the rocks that had gotten caught in his parts, Bolin saw an opening and sent a fist sized rock straight at him. The rock hit Tensu in the face, shattering his mask into many small pieces, and sent him flying backwards into some nearby crates, which he landed on. He lay there for a moment, but then he shot back up and flipped forward, landing on his feet. It seemed that the mask had taken most of the damage from Bolin's attack, and now Tensu's face could be seen underneath. Bolin could see that he had burn scars and a metal plate covering part of his face, most likely the result of the injuries he had sustained in the war.

"I actually felt that one." Tensu said casually, while popping his neck.

"What is this guy made of!?" Bolin exclaimed, shocked that Tensu had recovered so quickly from his attack.

Tensu then rushed towards Bolin and jumped into the air, doing a flying kick straight at him. Bolin dodged at the last second, and Tensu's kick instead hit the wall behind Bolin, and created a large hole right through it. Bolin seemed noticeably shocked by the amount of power Tensu had just displayed with that one kick and now seemed unnerved. Lin then came to Bolin's aid and again joined him in fighting Tensu and the brawl between them continued.

Lin was now finally starting to realize Tensu and Sanken's strategy in this fight. They each made up for the weakness of the other with their own strengths. Sanken was physically weak, leaving him vulnerable to physical combat, while Tensu with his enhanced and strengthened body, specialized in it and would protect Sanken from getting attacked in close quarters. On the other hand, Tensu was made almost entirely out of metal, making him an easy target for metalbending, but Sanken could easily prevent that with his own special bending style and attack Tensu's opponent while they were occupied with trying to metalbend him. She can't fight both of them at the same time, and if she were to try and exploit the weakness of one of them, that would leave her open to an attack from the other. Together, Tensu and Sanken were a near perfect bending duo. To continue this fight would be futile. Individually, she could easily take down either one of them, but there was no way that she and Bolin would be able to beat them when they were together like this. After several more minutes of fighting, Lin and Bolin stopped to catch their breath as Tensu and Sanken looked on.

"It looks like we've reached a stalemate." said Tensu.

"It would seem so." said Lin.

There was suddenly a loud crash nearby and Lin could hear the sound of an engine approaching. From around the corner of the street came Mei-Ling, who was riding on a motorcycle, and dragging on the ground behind it was Mako, whose leg was caught around a chain.

"Chief, help me!" Mako called out. "I'm stuck and can't get free."

Lin then face palmed at what had happened to Mako and then rushed over to him. She used her metalbending to unwrap the stuck chain from around Mako's leg, releasing him from his predicament. Soon afterwards, Azula finally caught up to Mako and joined them.

"Mako, what the heck were you doing?" asked Lin.

"We got chi blocked when we were fighting Mei-Ling, and then she tried to escape." said Mako. "We went after her but my leg got caught as she was riding away. I could barely hang onto the chain with my good arm."

Mei-Ling then drove the motorcycle to where Tensu and Sanken were and stopped to pick them up.

"Come on you two, let's get out of here." Mei-Ling said. "You two sure attracted a lot of attention with your flashy and destructive attacks. The authorities are now on their way here. We have to leave this place now."

"It looks like our battle has been postponed." said Tensu, turning to look at Mako. "Fighting you wasn't originally part of our plan when we came here, so count yourselves lucky this time."

Tensu then took the controls of the bike as Mei-Ling moved into the sidecar of the motorcycle, where she was joined by Sanken. After that, Tensu then sped off down the road leading out of the town and made his escape. Bumi, Kai, and Opal, who looked very battered and worn out, finally made their way to Mako, Bolin, Lin, and Azula and joined them.

"We have to go after them." said Mako. "We can't let them get away."

"No, don't follow them." said Lin. "Not only are we outmatched here, most of us aren't in any condition to fight right now. Even if we wanted to, by the time we got to the sky bison, they would be long gone. The cards were stacked against us in this fight and we were at a huge disadvantage. You and Azula got chi blocked, there wasn't much the airbenders could do, and when Bolin and I tried to fight, we got tag-teamed by Tensu and Sanken."

"If only Korra had been with us." said Mako. "This fight would have turned out differently."

"Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll be seeing those three again soon in the near future." said Lin. "Next time we'll be better prepared."

"Those three are going to be a real problem for us." said Mako. "They are some of the toughest opponents we've ever fought."

"What we need to do right now is get back to Ember Island as quickly as possible." said Lin. "We have some valuable information that might be of great help to us, both from the file you found and from the fight we just had with them."

"One thing has been really bothering me about these Red Lotus members that we've fought so far." said Bolin.

"What would that be?" asked Mako.

"Why is it that we haven't encountered Zaheer yet?" said Bolin. "We know that he somehow escaped from prison, and we know that he is a prominent member of the Red Lotus, so why isn't that we haven't seen him with those other three Red Lotus members yet? You'd think that he would be helping them with their plans, so where is he?"

"That's a good question." said Mako. "Just what exactly is Zaheer up to?"

"No good, that for sure." said Lin.

"Alright, let's get back to the sky bison now." said Mako. "I'm completely worn out and hurting all over from everything that has happened today. Korra and Asami are lucky. They must be having the time of their lives right now, while something terrible like this had to happen to us."

"When everyone else finds out about you getting dragged by that motorcycle, they're never going to let you hear the end of it." said Lin.

"Chief, please don't tell anyone about that." said Mako, now embarrassed. "Especially not Korra and Asami."

"Knowing them, they'll probably end up finding out about it anyway." said Bolin. "It's no use trying to hide it from them. The evidence is all over you." Bolin pointed out how Mako's clothes were covered in dirt and mud and that he had several cuts and bruises.

"Let's go back and get you cleaned up Mako." said Azula. "You're a complete mess."

"This trip didn't seem very productive to me." said Mako, now sulking a little bit. "All I accomplished today was getting my butt handed to me and being dragged across the ground."

"We had it rough too." said Kai. "We were constantly having explosions go off in our faces while trying our best not to get roasted alive."

"You might have gotten singed a little bit." said Bolin. "I can smell something burnt."

"I didn't think it was all the bad." said Azula, who put her arms around Mako and Bolin's shoulders. "It's felt like the two of us have really bonded with each other over these past few days. It's almost like we're family now."

Mako and Bolin then discretely looked at each other in suspense, almost as if they knew what the other was thinking about.

The group of Mako, Bolin, Kai, Opal, Lin, Bumi, and Azula all then started to make their way to the outskirts of town where the sky bison were and started to leave to Ember Island.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Zaheer Conflicted

Korra, Asami, Tenzin, Kya, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo were flying over the ocean on their sky bison and have just about reached their destination; the western Air Nomad lands.

"I see land." Meelo said excitedly, seeing the landscape come into view on the horizon over the water.

"We should be close to the Western Air Temple now." said Tenzin. "We'll land on the coast and make our way to the temple from there."

The two groups landed their sky bison on the ground and they disembarked. Stretched before them, they could see a wide landscape of misty valleys, forests, and mountains.

"This should be a good enough location for me to use my spirit tracking technique that I've been practicing over the past few months." said Korra. "I couldn't do it when we were over the ocean because I need to be on the ground first in order to use it. It also works better in areas that are highly spiritual, like this place in the Air Nomad lands."

Korra got down on her knees and touched her hand onto the ground. She felt a rush of spiritual power and began to search the area using the spiritual energy running throughout the ground as a conduit.

"Can you get a fix on his location?" asked Tenzin.

"Sort of, but not exactly." said Korra.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Tenzin.

"It's very blurry and I can't make it out clearly." said Korra. "He's becoming difficult to find. I don't think I've told you this, but the last time I met Zaheer, his spiritual energy had started to change and feel different. It has probably changed even more since then and now I'm having a hard time recognizing his aura in order to find him. It may be faint, but he's definitely somewhere here in these lands."

"What could this mean?" asked Jinora.

"The other side to this power is that I am able to read the hearts and spirits of those who I'm trying to find and I can feel their emotions." said Korra. "Zaheer must be having some kind of internal change, which is why his spiritual aura is starting to feel different. It's fluctuating a lot, almost as if his spirit and heart are conflicted."

"Conflicted?" asked Tenzin, puzzled.

"I don't know what to make of it either." said Korra. "However, even if I can't get a fix on his exact location, I can follow a spiritual trail left at of all the places he has been to while here, which will most likely lead us to him eventually."

"Alright then, we should get a move on before he gets too far away." said Tenzin.

With that, the group began their trek through the mountainous terrain of the landscape, following the trail of Zaheer. Along the way, they saw many strange and beautiful things scattered throughout the landscape. Overhead, they saw a large herd of sky bison flying in search of food. Eventually, they reached what seemed to be a valley filled with many bones, many of which appeared to be from sky bison.

"What is this place?" asked Korra.

"It's the gravesite and final resting place for many sky bison." said Tenzin. "For some reason, sky bison often have certain places where members of the herd that are close to death like to go to in order to die. After they die, the herd would stay near their bodies, mourning for several days before moving on. After many years, their remains gathering and piling up would form giant bone yards like this one. You'll find places like these in all of the Air Nomad lands, some even thousands of years old, though this one seems to be rather recent, probably only about a few decades old."

Tenzin then began to walk into the bone yard and made his way towards a small, grassy hill. On top of the hill was what appeared to be a simple stone grave marker.

"Is something buried there under that mound?" asked Korra.

"Yes, and I suspect this may be the reason why the sky bison choose to gather here." said Tenzin. He then walked up to the top of the hill and sat down in front of the grave marker. "Hello Appa, it's been a while since the last time I visited you."

"Appa? Who's that?" asked Korra.

"Appa was the name of the sky bison companion of my father, Avatar Aang." said Tenzin. "They were lifelong friends and had a very strong bond with each other. I remember he would always take me for rides on Appa's back whenever we traveled around the world. As I grew up and aged, Appa started to grow old and sick. He knew he didn't have much time left, so he decided to spend his last days here, in a land of the Air Nomads where his kind lived and roamed free. When he died, my father laid him to rest in this burial mound, and ever since then, sky bison have always for some reason come here to die, which eventually formed this bone yard."

The group stayed for a few minutes and payed their respects to Appa and then moved on with their search. Korra started to pick up again on the trail of Zaheer and followed it until they were on the outskirts of what seemed to be a mountain village, which was inhabited by people.

"What? People actually live here?" said Korra in surprise. "I thought the Air Acolytes at the Western Air Temple would be the only ones here."

"The Air Acolytes actually aren't the only ones who live in the Air Nomad lands." said Tenzin. "A little known fact is that after the end of the Hundred Year War, many people, mostly refugees or people who were displaced from their previous homes, had started to settle and move in over the years and form mountain farming villages like this one here. A majority of these people are non-benders or people who simply wished to be free from the control of any government. In places like these, you'll find a variety of people from all over the world living here in harmony with one another. They've formed a mutual relationship with the Air Acolytes and have lived together peacefully with them in these lands."

"That sounds similar to a place we once visited in Republic City." said Asami.

Korra continued on down the mountain path until she reached an area that seemed to be filled with old, abandoned, or destroyed houses, many of which were buried under rocks and debris from the mountains.

"What happened here?" asked Korra. "It looks like people used to live in this part of the mountain, but now they're all gone."

"Unfortunately, this area in the mountains is often prone to landslides, and in the past there have been several where whole sections of villages have been destroyed, and the people caught in them would often get killed." said Tenzin. "This part of the village was destroyed by one several decades ago, and it has remained abandoned like this because the people of the village fear that the area is unstable."

"Zaheer's spirit trail leads through here." said Korra. "For some reason, he was here and stopped by that one buried house over there."

Korra pointed out one of the destroyed houses in the distance, which was buried under a large amount of earth.

"The trail then continues on this way." said Korra. She then began to lead them further onto the mountain path and the group again started to follow her.

* * *

After following the trail for a while, the group eventually ended up near a large formation of cliffs. Upon walking around to the other side, they found what appeared to be a massive temple complex built into the mountainside.

"Here it is, the Western Air Temple." said Tenzin. "This brings back so many memories for me. When I was growing up, my father used to take me here all the time. Since it was the closest Air Temple to Republic City, it was easy for us to be able to come here often. When they were younger, I would also take Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo to come visit this place as well."

"Now then, do any of you remember which famous Avatar originated from the Western Air Temple?" asked Tenzin, turning towards his three children.

"It was Avatar Yangchen." Jinora answered eagerly.

"Correct." said Tenzin. "Did you also know that this temple was where the mother of your grandfather, Avatar Aang was from?"

"I didn't know that." said Ikki.

"She was an Air Nomad woman by the name of Yanna Diki." said Tenzin. "Although my father had never met his mother because he was separated from her at birth, he eventually learned about her. Air Nomad children were usually separated from their parents early in life so that they would not form attachments. Though he was not allowed to go and find her, Aang's mentor Monk Gyatso had secretly told him about his mother and what she was like. She probably had no idea that her son would grow up to be the Avatar."

The group then made their way to the temple until they were right under the buildings hanging underneath the cliffs.

"This place is beautiful." said Asami. "I've never seen anything like it."

"The windy environment around the temple is also known to enhance someone's airbending." said Tenzin.

"All of the buildings look like they're upside down." said Korra, who seemed puzzled by the hanging structures. "How would someone even get up there?" After a few moments, Korra then seemed to suddenly realize the answer. "Never mind, that was a stupid question. This place was built by airbenders. They could just fly up there."

"The temple has for the most part been cleaned up, restored, and repaired by the Air Acolytes since the end of the Hundred Year War." said Tenzin. "However, despite their best efforts, there is still a sizable chunk of the temple that is missing. That was the result of a battle my father and his friends once had here with the combustion bender Ganhotsu and later with Azula during the Hundred Year War. However, the damage is nowhere near as bad as that of the Northern Air Temple, which was destroyed completely. Before, it took some time for the Northern Air Temple to be restored to its former glory after what had been done to it by the mechanist Li-Po, but now there's no restoring that pile of melted rock."

"Tenzin, I'm not sure if I'm feeling this wrong, but Zaheer's trail seems to stop here." said Korra. "If that's right, then that means he's somewhere inside the temple right now."

"What!?" gasped Tenzin, who was noticeably shocked. "He's here? Are you absolutely certain about this Korra?"

"Yes." said Korra. "His spiritual essence is strong here, which means we're very close."

"This is bad." said Tenzin. "We have to warn the Air Acolytes and get them out of there. We have no idea what Zaheer is planning. Their lives could be in serious danger. He might already know we're closing in on him, so who knows what he'll do."

"We should do this carefully and quietly." said Asami. "The last thing we should do here is cause a panic. That could alert Zaheer to our presence and give him an opportunity to get away before we reach him."

The group then rushed to the part of the temple beneath the hanging structures and located two of the Air Acolytes at the bottom level of the complex.

"Hello there Master Tenzin." said one of the air acolytes. "What brings you here?"

"We're looking for a certain man." said Tenzin. "Maybe you can tell us where he is?"

"What sort of man?" asked the air acolyte. "We often get all sorts of visitors here."

"Please keep calm after what I am about to tell you." said Tenzin. "His name is Zaheer. He is a dangerous criminal who has been on the loose for the past year and a half now. We have reason to believe that he might be hiding somewhere here in this temple. We don't want to alert him to our presence, so I ask that you please do not panic. Just show us where he is if you have seen him."

"What?" asked the air acolyte. "The Red Lotus criminal known as Zaheer has escaped from prison?"

"Yes." said Korra. "I thought this would be old news by now."

"Here in the Air Nomad lands, we are very isolated from the rest of the world." said the other air acolyte. "Often times, news of the outside world reaches us here very slowly, usually long after it was relevant."

"This is a picture of him." said Tenzin, holding out a wanted poster of Zaheer. "Have you seen him?"

That's the Wind Walker, Monk Gyatsuboro." said the air acolyte, who seemed surprised. "He has been visiting this place often. He seems like such a nice and friendly person. I had no idea he was a wanted criminal."

"So these air acolytes also had no idea what Zaheer even looked like?" said Korra. "He's been coming here often and nobody even noticed?"

"Why has he been coming here?" asked Tenzin, surprised that he had been unaware of this.

"He seemed to be very familiar with this place and the surrounding lands, almost as if he's been here before." said the other air acolyte. "A lot of the people in the nearby village also seem to recognize him and greet him with open arms, as if they're welcoming him back."

"Can you take us to him now?" said Tenzin.

"Yes, I can." said the air acolyte. "Just follow me. He's in one of the mediation chambers in the buildings hanging above us."

The Air Acolytes led them through the temple and took them to a staircase carved into the cliff wall, which led up to one of the buildings on the ceiling.

"He's in there." said the other air acolyte.

"Alright then that will be all." said Tenzin. "Just to be safe, you two should leave us and start getting the other air acolytes to evacuate this place, but do it calmly and quietly. We don't know what could happen."

The two air acolytes left them and the group of Korra, Asami, Tenzin, Kya, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo then proceeded to climb up the stairs leading to the upper level of the temple.

Asami noticed that Korra's body was now starting to shake.

"What's wrong Korra?" asked Asami.

"I almost can't believe that right at the top of these steps, we're about to cross paths with Zaheer." said Korra. "When I encountered him in the city, I was so overcome by fear that I couldn't even move at all the entire time to try and stop him from getting away. I may have put on a brave act when we talked, but I was actually scared out of my mind. I don't know what he might try this time."

"It's alright." said Asami, grabbing Korra's hand. "We're all here with you. You don't have to be afraid anymore. You already overcame your fear of him, didn't you?"

"When I went to visit him in prison, I wasn't really afraid because he was chained up and couldn't do anything." said Korra. "But now he's free and he can hurt people again, and hurt me."

"If he is able to do that now, then why hasn't he done it yet?" said Asami. "If he really wanted revenge against you, wouldn't he have come after you when he escaped from prison rather than just avoiding you altogether and staying hidden? You're fear of him at this point is almost irrational. Zaheer isn't coming to get you anymore. He no longer has any reason to come after you."

Korra now started to feel a lot better and began to calm down. As the group reached the top of the stairs, they came to a set of two large, ornate, metal doors, which were decorated with imagery of the Air Nomads and their history.

"Well, here we go." said Korra.

Korra mustered up the courage and walked up to the doors. She pushed them open and could hear the ancient temple doors creak as they swung open. They entered and found themselves inside of a large room used for mediation by the Airbenders and Air Acolytes. The smell of lit incense filled the room and they could see that at the very back of the room was a man, who was seated on the floor and facing a statue, which was most likely that of a past airbending master. Even when looking at him from behind, Korra could tell right away that it was Zaheer.

"Alright Zaheer, surrender yourself." said Korra as the group approached him. "It's no use running away, we have you surrounded now."

"So we meet again Avatar Korra, and so soon too." said Zaheer. "I could sense your presence approaching the moment you set foot in these lands."

"Why are you here at this temple Zaheer?" asked Tenzin. "If you knew we were coming, then why did you stay here?"

"What? I can't visit the land of my birth?" Zaheer said casually. "This has always been a welcoming place for me. Don't worry, the Air Acolytes here have nothing to fear from me."

"What are you talking about?" asked Tenzin.

"The nearby village close to this temple is where I'm from." said Zaheer. "I grew up in these lands and have always come to visit this temple since I was a child, even when Avatar Aang was still alive."

"This place is where you grew up?" said Korra.

"I decided to come and visit this place at least one last time in order to clear my conscience." said Zaheer. "I feel as though I might not get another chance."

"No wonder the Air Acolytes and villagers didn't see him as a threat." said Asami. "They wouldn't be suspicious of someone who used to live here and is a native of these lands."

"As a child growing up close to the temple, I was always fascinated by it and the Air Nomad culture." said Zaheer. "I would always come to visit the Air Acolytes and would get excited whenever Avatar Aang would come and demonstrate his airbending skills to them."

"Wait, it can't be..." said Tenzin. "I remember that whenever my father would take me to visit this temple when I was a child, often there was a little boy from the village who would be excitedly and intently watching him airbend along with the Air Acolytes. According to the air acolytes, he was someone who would often stop by to visit. You were that boy weren't you Zaheer?"

"Yes, I was. When I watched him airbend, I was mesmerized." said Zaheer. "I wanted to become an airbender just like him; however, at the time I was to young too understand that something like that was not possible. As I grew up, I came to understand that your dreams won't always come true and that you can't always get what you want in life."

Korra noticed that Zaheer seemed to have a sad expression. This was a strange side of Zaheer that she thought she would never witness.

"Zaheer, I know something is different about you." said Korra. "When I used my spirit tracking technique to find you, I could see into your heart. I know that you're feeling conflicted on the inside. Are you perhaps having second thoughts about your actions?"

"You know, fate is a strange thing Avatar Korra." said Zaheer. "After being imprisoned a second time, I've begun to have a spiritual rebirth of sorts. Now that I have the power of airbending, my outlook on everything has started to change, and the things which I thought I was fighting for by joining the Red Lotus have turned out to not be what I really wanted. With my current freedom, that impossible dream of being an airbender I once had as a child now finally seems to be within my grasp."

"It's a shame you had to go down the path of joining the Red Lotus you did." said Tenzin, with an almost regretful tone. "If things had been different, you could have been a great airbender."

"Master Tenzin, do you know who this is?" asked Zaheer, gesturing to the statue of an Air Nomad in front of him.

"That is Avatar Dhan Cho." said Tenzin. "He was the Air Nomad Avatar before Yangchen."

"Like the famous Guru Laghima, Avatar Dhan Cho was also from the Northern Air Temple." said Zaheer. "He had studied the writings and teachings of Guru Laghima and learned of how he had managed to attain weightlessness and become untethered from the ground. He then decided to try the same thing and see if he could learn the ability of flight. However, try as he may, no matter how hard he trained here at the Western Air Temple, he was never able to do it. He eventually figured that it must be because the Avatar has a permanent tether to this world as a result of their constant duty to bring peace and balance to the world, which makes them unable to learn the technique of weightlessness, so he abandoned his pursuit of it and moved onto other things."

"What is the purpose in telling us this story?" asked Tenzin.

"Avatar Dhan Cho was unable to enter the void, but I was." said Zaheer. "I was able to do something that even an Avatar couldn't do. Knowing this has made me realize that when you open your eyes to the endless possibilities before you, anything can become possible."

Seeing Zaheer like this and peering into his spirit, Korra's fear of him was now finally beginning to dissipate entirely. She realized that on the inside, Zaheer was actually vulnerable, almost like she was.

"So what's your story?" asked Korra. "How did this whole thing with the Red Lotus start for you? I'm curious and would like to know because the Red Lotus has greatly affected my life, from trying to kidnap me as a child, causing me to have to live in isolation from the world, to poisoning me, which emotionally destroyed me and made me lose my sanity."

"So you're actually trying to empathize with someone who was once your enemy?" said Zaheer, laughing. "You really have changed Avatar Korra. This is unlike you."

"Defeating Kuvira has changed the way I look at things." said Korra. "I used to just rush in and fight my enemies without a second thought, but now I actually feel compelled to try and understand them. Knowing more about your past with the Red Lotus could help me figure out how to fix the situation in the Fire Nation."

"Fine then, I'll tell you my story." said Zaheer. "You'll be surprised to find that our lives are more connected with each other by fate than you might think."

"Your past is somehow related to what has happened in my life?" asked Korra.

"Yes, in a way." said Zaheer. "It began when I was born and raised in the nearby village of Yao-Xing. My parents were some of the people who had moved here in order to create a new life for themselves, free from the control of any government. They greatly believed in personal freedom and together they tended a farm like many other people living in the village. As you know, as a child I was also greatly fascinated by the Air Nomad culture and philosophy, which seemed to coincide with the ideals of the people of the village."

"What happened to set you on this path?" asked Korra.

"Everything changed for me when I was out checking on the fields one day when I was a teenager." said Zaheer. "It felt like an earthquake had happened near the village and I immediately rushed back. When I got there, I found that a large part of the village had been buried by a landslide, including my home. My parents were home at the time and they had been killed in the landslide that had buried our home. Everything and everyone I knew and loved had been destroyed that day. I was now sad and alone in the world and felt as though I had lost all sense of purpose in my life. However, in the midst of my despair, a chance encounter with someone gave me a ray of hope and was the first step that set me on my path."

"Who was it that you met?" asked Korra.

"It was your uncle Unalaq." said Zaheer.

"Unalaq" asked Korra, who was surprised. "What was he doing in a place like that?"

"At the time when I met him, Unalaq was still young; about the same age I was." said Zaheer. "He told me that he was on a spiritual journey and had been tasked with carrying a sacred mirror, which he kept wrapped up in a special blue cloth, from the North Pole all the way to the South Pole. It was part of an ancient Water Tribe ritual that he was participating in known as the Journey of the Azure One."

"I've heard of that ritual before." said Korra.

"What's this whole ritual about?" asked Jinora.

"My father once told me that it's a tradition in which every ten years, a certain sacred mirror which once belonged to a past Water Tribe Avatar would be moved from one Water Tribe to the other." said Korra. "Each time it's done, the tribe that has the mirror would alternate. One tribe would hold onto it for ten years, then someone from that tribe would make the journey to take it to the other tribe, and then they would hold onto it for ten years, and then someone from their tribe would take it back to the previous tribe that had it, and the cycle would continue on like that. Usually someone from the family of the chief of whichever tribe has the mirror would be chosen to make the journey to take it to the other tribe."

"Apparently, Unalaq had been the one chosen to undertake the journey this time." said Zaheer. "He was chosen over his older brother to go because he was more spiritually connected, something which was a very important part of the journey. It is said that the sacred Azure Mirror once belonged to the famous Water Tribe Avatar known as Arrluk, who was the Water Tribe Avatar that came before Avatar Kuruk. Throughout his travels all over the world, he had eventually come to be known by the title of _"The Azure One"_, and was called that by many people. Legend has it that the sacred Azure Mirror he possessed was somehow linked to the Spirit World, and that someone could actually look into the mirror to peer into their world, and they could see many strange and miraculous things, and it could even be used to communicate with the spirits. It is also said that the mirror's power would strengthen whenever it reflected the light of the full moon. However, the mirror did not work for everyone. In most cases, the person using it would have to be very spiritually connected in order to use it, like Unalaq was."

"An object like that exists?" asked Jinora. "How did Avatar Arrluk even get something like that?"

"It's unknown how Avatar Arrluk ever came to possess such an item." said Zaheer. "One of the stories is that one night it floated up from the Spirit World and into the pool at the Spirit Oasis in the North Pole during a new moon. Other stories say that it might have once belong to a powerful face-stealing spirit known as Koh, and that it was stolen from his realm when someone had trespassed there. After Arrluk came to possess it, he made it his duty to guard it and keep it safe."

"What is the purpose behind such a journey?" asked Tenzin.

"The journey is meant to honor Avatar Arrluk's memory and to symbolize the connection the Water Tribes have with the spirits." said Zaheer. "Avatar Arrluk himself was also very spiritually connected, and he had also been born into the family of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, which is why a member of the chief's family with a deep spiritual connection was usually chosen. The journey is also supposed to honor the Avatar spirit itself and it is meant to mimic and be a reenactment of the Avatar journey. The person transporting the mirror would visit each of the four nations on their way to the other tribe and would sometimes even gather companions to assist them in the journey, similar to how the Avatar would find companions of their own on their journey. Usually the nations visited would follow the order of the Avatar Cycle, but not always."

"I guess that means Avatar Arrluk could be a distant ancestor of mine since he was also from the family of a Water Tribe Chief like I am." said Korra. "My father was the one who had carried the mirror back to the Northern Water Tribe ten years later, after Unalaq had brought it to the Southern Water Tribe. Chief Sokka had asked him to do it for the Southern Water Tribe. That was the only time before Unalaq's death that my father had ever gone back to visit his homeland in the north. They were willing to overlook his banishment just that one time because of the important, solemn nature of the tradition. The most recent people to have undertaken the journey were actually my two cousins Eska and Desna, who brought it back to my tribe in the South Pole. Very soon now, in the next year or so, it will be time for someone to bring it back to the Northern Water Tribe. Many people from my tribe are actually suggesting that I should be the one to take the journey this time, and that it would be a great experience for me since I never got to go on the Avatar journey."

"Moving on with the story, when I had met Unalaq, he had just started his journey recently and the western Air Nomad lands were the first nation that he had visited." said Zaheer. "He told me all about his spiritual journey and I became fascinated by it. He stayed for a while and the two of us quickly became friends. When he had to set off again, he offered to take me along with him, and make me his first companion on the journey. I readily agreed. There was nothing left for me here in my village and I wanted to see the world and experience for myself the freedom my parents had always talked about."

"Unalaq was different back then though wasn't he?" asked Korra.

"Yes, his personality was very different than when you met him." said Zaheer. "After we left, the first place we visited was the Earth Kingdom. It was there that we met Ghazan, who up until that point in his life had been performing in circuses and fighting in underground earthbending tournaments. We befriended him and eventually he decided to go with us on our journey. Next we visited the Fire Nation for a while, where we didn't really meet anyone in particular, and then we moved on. We finally reached our destination at the Southern Water Tribe where we then handed the mirror over to one of the Water Tribe shamans. It was there in the South Pole that we met Ming-Hua, who would become the next member of our group. When she was a little girl, everyone had always thought that she would never be able to waterbend, but she had somehow managed overcome her disability and was able to waterbend without any arms. We eventually befriended her and she wanted to join our group as well. With our journey now over, we didn't really have anything else left to do, so we decided to go back to the Fire Nation in order to look for work. That is where we met another person who would change our lives."

"Who was it this time?" asked Korra.

'It was the leader of the Red Lotus, Xai Bau." said Zaheer. "We had come across him one day in one of the Fire Sage temples. At the time we didn't know who he was, but he opened our minds to his spiritual ideology and philosophy, which intrigued us. He offered to recruit us into the Red Lotus and we joined, becoming official members. Xai Bau taught us all about the spirits, Avatar Wan, Raava, Vaatu, the White Lotus, and many other things. To us, it seemed like we had finally found a place where we belonged. Everything was peaceful for a few years, and Unalaq had even gone back to the Northern Water Tribe for a while, where he had been named next in line to be chief by his father, and he had even gotten married. Then, the civil war broke out in the Fire Nation. It was during the last two years of Avatar Aang's life. Unfortunately, he was unable to do anything to stop it because at that point, he was starting to age rapidly, and was now bedridden after he had become ill. There was nothing he could do but just lay in bed and whiter away from old age and sickness."

"It was a sad time indeed." said Tenzin.

"The White Lotus and we of the Red Lotus then decided that it was up to us now to do something about the war and help to stop it." said Zaheer. "Throughout the war, we helped and assisted many people who were affected by it and did our best to stop the warlords. It really felt like we were making a difference and that what we were doing actually mattered, and that made our efforts seem all the more impactful. We wanted to do something good by helping those less fortunate. My life changed again when one day, we freed a group of people who were under the captivity of a warlord known as Jushin. That was when I met P'Li and Tensu. We had given them their freedom, and we befriended the two of them and they decided to help us in our goals during the war. P'Li and I eventually fell in love and she along with Tensu also joined the Red Lotus. Tensu also enlisted in the Fire Nation army in order to fight the warlords and from his position he continued to assist us. During that time, Unalaq and Tensu had become the best of friends."

"You and the Red Lotus originally set out to do something good?" said Korra. "What made everything change?"

"Something that anyone who has fought in a war can tell you is that wars change people." said Zaheer. "The civil war raged on for a few more years, and it began to take its toll on us as we were all changed. No longer were we the people we once used to be. We were finally starting to realize that neither side was just in this war and that the Fire Nation only seemed concerned with preserving the status quo. One day, near the end of the war, something terrible happened. We received news that our friend Tensu had been killed in a major battle near Kotei City. Unalaq was the most distraught by the news of his death."

"What happened to Unalaq after that?" asked Korra.

"That day, it was like something died in Unalaq." said Zaheer. "He had lost his best friend, and he was no longer the same person again after that. His heart had become dark and cold, and it felt like he was beginning to turn into someone else. The war ended soon after that and finally our lives could go back to normal, but on the inside, it had left its scars on all of us. Unalaq had started to become more and more of a sociopath, which was starting to push away even his wife Malina.

"So that's what made Unalaq change." said Korra. "I guess even the most evil people don't start out evil and have a moment in their lives where they just snapped."

"He would constantly come up with schemes and plans for the Red Lotus to attempt in their quest to change the world." said Zaheer. "One day, he came up with the craziest scheme of all."

"What scheme was that?" asked Korra.

"It was the plan to kidnap you when you were a child." said Zaheer. "I think you know the story from there. We tried to kidnap you, and when things didn't go as planned, Unalaq abandoned us and we were captured. However, after we were sent to prison, Unalaq attempted to get revenge on Chief Sokka, who had helped to lock us away. He secretly had Chief Sokka poisoned so that it would look like he had died of natural causes. I'm pretty sure Katara was the only one who knew that his death wasn't natural, but she chose not to say anything. At the time, tensions were high between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, and accusing the other tribe of the assassination of their chief would most likely have led to an international incident, or worse, a war, and that was the last thing Katara would have wanted, especially after a devastating war had just concluded not too long ago."

"It looks like my guess about what happened to Chief Sokka was right." said Korra.

"Years later, we eventually escaped from our prisons a few weeks after Harmonic Convergence, and upon meeting up with some of the other Red Lotus members, we learned something surprising." said Zaheer. "Apparently, Tensu and Xai Bau were still alive and they had somehow survived the war. We were stunned and almost couldn't believe it. Tensu had been rescued by Xai Bau as he was dying on the battlefield and he took him away to have him rebuilt with metal parts to replace the ones he lost so that he could continue to help the Red Lotus. Xai Bau had been hiding on Kyoshi Island during the time we were imprisoned, where he had been planning his next move with Tensu, and he had even recruited some new members. Eventually they were forced to flee from Kyoshi Island when they got word that Kuvira's army was marching on their way there to conquer the island and absorb it into the Earth Kingdom during the time I was imprisoned again."

"I remember Bolin mentioning something about Kuvira heavily searching the island for Red Lotus members, though she never found any." said Korra.

"After fleeing, Xai Bau and Tensu returned to the Fire Nation where they began to set a new plan in motion." said Zaheer. "They would gather the support of the people and eventually create a a revolution that would bring down the government of the Fire Nation, which they believed was no longer fit to rule and was responsible for all of the bad things that had happened since the war. Tensu has taken on Xai Bau's name and is acting as his proxy to gain the support and trust of the people and all those wronged by the war so that they may create a new government to run the Fire Nation. Soon, they plan on beginning their revolution and overthrowing the Fire Nation government. By doing so, Tensu feels that he will also get his revenge on the monarchy and government that had caused his terrible fate."

"That's what Xai Bau is planning?" said Korra. "Isn't that just as bad as what happened when the warlords tore apart the Fire Nation during the civil war? Won't something like that just lead to another even worse war?"

"If things are left to continue like this, the situation in the Fire Nation will only deteriorate even more." said Zaheer. "The Fire Nation has been steadily worsening and declining ever since the end of the war, and now even the other nations are starting to notice it. It's only a matter of time before things completely fall apart and the Fire Nation ceases to exist as a cohesive governing entity. The Fire Nation is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and either option would have huge consequences, but it's better than doing nothing. Someone has to make the first move or things will never change from what they currently are."

"How could things get this bad?" asked Korra. "Even Lord Zuko and Firelord Izumi can't seem to do anything about it."

"You have no idea how damaging that civil war has been to not only the Fire Nation, but the whole world." said Zaheer. "It has had ripple effects that still reach into the current day, in places all over the world, because of how it has changed everyone who fought in it. The smallest mistakes can have the biggest consequences later down the road. That is why we must fix this and set it right before it's too late."

"Why would you tell us all this Zaheer?" asked Korra. "I thought you were a part of the Red Lotus?"

"I just felt as though you needed to know, so you can at least do something about it, for the sake of peace in the world." said Zaheer. "Our interests both sort of align in this situation."

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Korra. "Are you still going to help the Red Lotus in their goals?"

"I'm at a bit of a crossroad actually." said Zaheer. "I've been debating with myself whether I really should continue to help the Red Lotus in the Fire Nation, or just leave it all behind and finally enjoy the freedom I've always wanted."

"You have the chance to turn away from it all and redeem yourself." said Korra. "I see now that you aren't really such a bad person afterall. You've suffered too, just like I have. You became this way because that what life has shaped you into being. You can still change who you are and go down a different path. Why don't you come with us and help us change things?"

"Korra, are you seriously suggesting something like that?" asked Asami, who was surprised by Korra's sudden empathy. "I can't believe what I'm hearing."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that." said Zaheer. "There are still some things that I must go and do."

"So you're going to leave again." asked Korra.

"Yes." said Zaheer. "However, I think I can trust that you, as the Avatar, can figure out how to fix this and make things right. I've seen what you can do, and I believe you can do it. Goodbye Avatar Korra. Since we are no longer enemies, maybe we'll meet again someday; either in this world, or the Spirit World."

"We still can't let you get away Zaheer." said Tenzin. "You're a wanted criminal."

"We're giving you a choice Zaheer." said Korra. "Either you come with us willingly, or we arrest you and forcibly take you back to prison under the custody of the White Lotus."

"I finally have all the freedom in the world." said Zaheer. "There's no way I'm ever going back to prison."

Zaheer then got up and created a rapid air current, which began sucking in all of the smoke that was coming from the burning sticks of incense all throughout the room. He then sent it towards Korra and her group. They could feel the smoke irritating their eyes and throats and they were forced to exit the room as their vision was obscured by a thick screen of smoke. Zaheer then fled out of a window in the wall of the building and flew away with great speed.

"Now Avatar, let's see if you can make sense of it." Zaheer said to himself. "I wonder what choice you'll make when the time comes..."

Once they were outside, Korra could see that Zaheer had gotten away and was quickly disappearing from view.

"We have to go after him." said Asami. "This was probably our best chance of recapturing him."

"There's no way we'll be able to catch up to him now." said Korra. "The sky bison are too far away and he's already made some distance between us. I also won't be able to track him with my spirit tracking technique if he's up in the air like that. I'm not that good with it yet. Besides, he's not the one we should be worrying about now. It seems that there's someone else higher up in the chain of command who is leading the Red Lotus."

"I don't get it." said Jinora. "Does this mean that Zaheer is still with the Red Lotus, or did he abandon them?"

The smoke had now cleared and the group went back inside the building. Meelo then walked over to the side of the room where Zaheer had been and picked something up off the ground.

"Look what I found." said Meelo, holding up a piece of paper.

"Did that come from Zaheer?" asked Jinora. "It looks like some sort Red Lotus propaganda flier."

Korra went to have a look at the piece of paper and saw that on it was an image of a red lotus flower, and it seemed to be inside of a larger image of a sun.

"What is this?" asked Korra. "The red lotus flower is obviously the symbol of the Red Lotus, but what about the sun it's surrounded by? Could it be a symbol for the Fire Nation? The Fire Nation and the element of fire in general are sometimes symbolized by an image of the sun, aside from the usual flame symbol that people are familiar with."

"Did Zaheer drop this by accident, or on purpose?" asked Tenzin, now intrigued. "What could this mean?"

"I'm not sure." said Korra. "But something tells me that it isn't good."

* * *

It has now been an hour since Zaheer has escaped and the Air Acolytes had now returned to the temple since it was safe again. Asami noticed that Korra was sitting on the steps of the temple with a sad and gloomy expression, with her arm propped against her head, as she stared off into the distance.

"What's wrong Korra?" asked Asami as she approached her. "You seem depressed. Is everything alright?"

"I've been thinking about all of the things Zaheer has told me, and it has made me realize a lot of things." said Korra.

"What sort of things?" asked Asami.

"It's made me realize how futile trying to fix this situation in the Fire Nation might be." said Korra. "Asami, I really don't know how I'm going to fix this. Before, I used to always have some idea of what to do, and if things ever went downhill, I could always fight my way out, but not this time. For the first time in my life as the Avatar, I actually don't know what to do." Korra put her face into her hands for a moment and then looked at Asami.

"We can always think of something." said Asami. "We managed to pull through when we fought Kuvira and changed the Earth Kingdom. This situation doesn't seem all that different from back then."

"That's part of the problem here." said Korra. "I've realized that not only what's going on in the Fire Nation right now, but just about every single bad thing that has happened to the world in the last five years has in some way stemmed from the Fire Nation Civil War and was in some way set into motion by it. All except for the Equalist Crisis."

"What are you talking about." asked Asami.

"Think about it. Zaheer was right; our fates really are connected to what happened in the war." said Korra. "If that civil war had never happened, Unalaq, Zaheer, and the rest of the Red Lotus would have never turned into the people they became. They would have never tried to kidnap me as a child, leading to my isolation at the South Pole, Unalaq would have never been able to release Vaatu and fuse with him, the Red Lotus would never have killed the Earth Queen and threw the Earth Kingdom into chaos, Kuvira would never have been able to rise to power, and most of all, I would never have poisoned. In one way or another, all of those things happened because of the war. This is something that is much bigger than we originally thought. That one war has had ripple effects that have lasted even to this day. It has set in motion a chain of events that has just led from one tragedy to another. The smallest mistakes have had the biggest effects, and now we have to deal with them. If only the Avatar had been able to do something about it back then, that war could have been prevented, and the world could be a much different place now. If only the Avatar just could have been there."

"Don't blame yourself for that." said Asami. "That was something which was completely out of your hands. There's nothing you could have done about it."

"That's exactly why I feel so powerless to do anything about it now." said Korra. "It's because it's completely out of my control. The world has been so severely thrown out of balance by the consequences of the war, and now history is about to repeat itself. If only the war had happened way back when Aang was still alive and healthy."

"This is a harsh reality that every Avatar must face at one point in their lives." said Tenzin, now appearing next to Korra and Asami. "My father once told me that sometimes an Avatar's actions can have good effects, or bad, and that their actions could sometimes have consequences that won't show up until a later life. Sometimes they must deal with the mistakes, shortcomings, and failures of a past Avatar in order for the world to move on."

"Korra, would things really be better if history had turned out differently?" asked Asami. "Can you say with certainty that if you had never been through any of the experiences that you've gone through in your life, would you still be the same person you are now? All of those events, which were in some way caused by the war, were a large part of what made you who you are now. If fate had been different, would you have turned out as the same person you are currently?"

"What do you mean Asami?" asked Korra.

"Some things were just fated to happen and there's nothing we can do about them." said Asami. "If the war had never happened, it's likely that the two of us might never have even met. Even more so, if things had happened differently, you might never have even been born and someone else would be the Avatar now. I can't imagine what my life would be like now if you were never a part of it."

"My father way not have been able to do anything about it back then, but you are the Avatar now Korra." said Tenzin. "You have the power to change things and make it so that this tragedy won't repeat itself. Just because a past Avatar couldn't do something doesn't mean that the current Avatar can't do it as well."

"You've overcome more hardships in the last few years than most Avatars have been able to throughout their entire lives." said Asami. "You've also been able to change the world in bigger ways than you can imagine. If you could do it back then, then you can definitely do it now."

"Thanks Asami. You too Tenzin." said Korra, who now seemed to cheer up. "I can always count on you two to bring me back up whenever I'm down."

"We'll start planning something when we meet back up with the others on Ember Island." said Tenzin. "Right now we need to hurry back. We don't know when Xai Bau will make his next move."

"Alright then, let's do it." said Korra; now back to her usual self, as she got up from the steps.

With Korra now feeling better, the group went to go find their sky bison. Jinora blew on a bison whistle and within a minute the bison had found them and were ready to go. They then quickly got on and left the Western Air Temple behind as they rushed back to Ember Island.


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Azula's Sorrow

Mako, Bolin, Lin, and Bumi were now waiting outside the house on Ember Island for Korra and Asami to return from their mission. They then saw two sky bison approach the island, which came down from the air and landed next to them. Korra, Asami, Tenzin, Kya, Jinora, Ikki and Meelo then got down from their sky bison and quickly went over to meet them.

"Did something happen to you guys?" asked Mako. "When you didn't come back at the planned time a few days ago, we started to get a little worried. You would have gotten here before us because the place you went to was closer, but instead we got here first. After what happened to us in the town, we thought something might have happened to you guys and soon we would have gone to go look for you."

"We ended up having to take an unexpected detour that made our trip last much longer than we expected." said Tenzin. "We'll explain the details later."

"So what exactly happened to you guys?" asked Korra.

"We ran into those three Red Lotus members from before when we were investigating our lead and ended up having to fight them." said Mako. "It was a tough battle and we were quickly overwhelmed and outmatched. Some of us got a little banged up, but we're okay."

"It sounds like you guys got the short end of the stick." said Asami. "We didn't really run into any trouble where we went."

"Did you get hurt during the battle Mako?" asked Korra.

"No, I'm alright." said Mako.

"Are you sure?" asked Korra, noticing that Mako was partially holding his side. "If you were, you shouldn't hide it. You should get yourself checked out and healed."

"Mako got scraped up when he was dragged along the ground by one of the Red Lotus members as they were escaping on a motorcycle." Bolin blurted out.

"They did what!?" asked Asami, shocked.

"Bolin!" shouted Mako, now annoyed that Bolin had just spilled the beans.

"What? They were going to find out sooner or later." said Bolin. "This is for your own good."

"Who did that to you?" Korra asked angrily. "I'm going to teach them a lesson the next time I see them. Nobody does that to one of my friends."

"They didn't do it on purpose." said Mako. "I accidentally got caught on the motorcycle when it started to speed away."

"Are you actually trying to defend the Red Lotus member who did that to you?" asked Asami.

"No." said Mako.

"Mako is just still upset that the person he sort of had a crush on turned out to be with the Red Lotus." Bolin blurted out again.

"You had a crush on someone?" asked Korra, surprised.

"No, it wasn't like that at all." said Mako, now blushing. "She was kind of cute, though."

"So it was that Kyoshi woman with them?" said Korra. "Wasn't it Mako?"

"It seems like you'll have quite the story to tell when we all explain how our missions went." said Asami.

"Let me heal you Mako." said Korra, now pulling out an animal skin filled with water.

"I'm okay now Korra." said Mako.

"Why didn't you want to tell us you got hurt?" asked Korra.

"I just didn't want you or Asami to worry about me." said Mako.

"You don't have to pretend to be tough all the time." said Asami. "We're your friends Mako. We can help each other out."

"We'll have to cut this reunion short." said Lin, now coming into the conversation. "Right now we all need to meet up with the others and explain everything we found out."

"Okay then, let's go." said Korra.

All of them then began to leave and make their way into the house, heading towards the meeting room where everyone else was waiting for them.

* * *

Gathered in the meeting room now were Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Opal, Kai, Lin, Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Rohan, Pema, Varrick, and Zhu Li who were on one side of the room, and on the other side was Zuko, Izumi, Zhen, Iroh, Azula, Akairyuu, Kiyi, and various other members of the royal family such as Iroh's younger sister, and a few other people who were members of the Fire Nation government. Both Korra's and Mako's groups had just finished telling their stories of everything that had transpired during their investigations on the Red Lotus.

"Alright, so here is what we know so far." said Iroh. "We know that one of the key members of the Red Lotus was a man from the Zatsu Tribe by the name of Tensu. The two people with him, a powerful earthbender named Sanken, and a Kyoshi warrior named Mei-Ling, are also dangerous as well and will likely be a huge threat."

"During our investigation, in Tensu's file we found a photo of him that was taken when he was serving in the Fire Nation Imperial Army during the civil war." said Mako. "It seems that you were in that photo with him as well. Would you care to explain that to us? It seems that Tensu was someone you knew in the past."

"Yes, I did know him once." said Iroh. "He and I were actually good friends when we were serving in the army together. However, we all assumed he had died during the battle outside Kotei City. I'm surprised that he somehow survived, even more so that he is one of the enemies we now face. It's almost sad for me to hear that he turned out like this."

"There is also something else of note." said Korra. "According to what Zaheer said, the real leader of the Red Lotus isn't Tensu, who was just acting as his proxy. The leader is actually none other than Xai Bau, the founder of the Red Lotus who was also thought to have died in the war. He is the one who's pulling the strings from behind the scenes and is attempting to create a revolution here in the Fire Nation in order to overthrow the monarchy."

"The key players in this Red Lotus insurgency so far seem to be Xai Bau, Tensu, Sanken, and Mei-Ling." said Tenzin. "As of now, Zaheer's role in this is unknown, and we're uncertain as to whether he is continuing to assist the Red Lotus at this point."

"So far, nobody has gotten any word of Xai Bau's location." said Iroh. "It would seem that he's hiding somewhere safe and is giving the Red Lotus members their orders from there."

"If he really is Xai Bau, then he must be at a very ancient age." said Zuko. "He would be around 130 years old right now. I highly doubt he would even be able do much on his own in a state like that."

"Do we currently have any information on Xai Bau?" asked Lin.

"All I know is that Xai Bau was once a Fire Sage who was a part of the White Lotus during the Hundred Year War." said Zuko. "He was a grandmaster of the order, and my uncle Iroh had actually met him a few times before, though he didn't seem to know much about him. Sometime after the Hundred Year War, Xai Bau eventually went on to create the Red Lotus because he believed that the White Lotus had lost its original purpose by coming out into the open and becoming protectors of the Avatar. The Fire Nation may be where the Red Lotus was created, but they are very secretive, much like the White Lotus was, so their existence wasn't even known about here until a few years ago."

"What about that strange paper that Zaheer left behind?" asked Korra. "Could it mean something?"

"The image on that paper seems to be composed of two different symbols." said Iroh. "The innermost symbol is that of a red lotus flower, the main symbol for the Order of the Red Lotus. Surrounding that symbol is another symbol on the outside that seems to represent the sun. The sun symbol is known for sometimes being used to represent the Fire Nation, which is sometimes known as the Land of the Sun, but that symbol was also used by the Fire Nation Imperial Army during the civil war on their banners and uniforms. Could it be some sort of statement about the goals of the Red Lotus?"

"Can we trust this?" asked Lin. "So far it seems to be some sort of warning, but it could also turn out to be something that's intended to misdirect us or lure us into a trap set up by the Red Lotus."

"It could be telling us something about what Xai Bau is going to do, or when he's going to do it." said Iroh. "From the way things are going, Xai Bau is probably planning on making his next move very soon. His plans seem like they're about to enter their final stages."

"We'll have to get to him first before he sets his plans in motion." said Zuko. "Our next move should be to locate the hideout of these Red Lotus insurgents here in the Fire Nation. That is where we will most likely find Xai Bau."

"We have no idea where to even look, nor do we have anything to go by this time." said Mako. "Although the Fire Nation isn't as big as the Earth Kingdom, it's still a vast place and it'll take a while to search it."

"We might not have the time to scour all of the Fire Nation to look for them before they make their move." said Iroh.

"What do you suggest we do then?" asked Lin. "Just hide from them?"

"We could wait for them to come to us." said Korra. "They most likely already know where we are right now. One of their biggest targets, the royal family, is right here on Ember Island. If they want their revolution to succeed, they are going to have to take them out of the picture. Sooner or later, they'll need to come after them, so they'll try to make a move here on Ember Island in order to get to them. If we use that opportunity to either capture or follow them, it could lead us straight to Xai Bau and the Red Lotus headquarters."

"That sounds very risky." said Tenzin. "It means we'll have to use the royal family as bait to lure them out. Something could easily go wrong. There's also no guarantee that they'll come here looking for them. What if they just continue on with their plans without coming here? We would have wasted valuable time that we could have used to search for them."

"We don't have very many options right now." said Korra. "The situation is worsening and if something isn't done quickly, everything will fall apart and Xai Bau's revolution will succeed. If we sit and do nothing, or if Xai Bau is able to make his move, either way the Red Lotus will succeed in their plans of bringing down the Fire Nation."

Everyone stopped and thought for a moment. The members of the royal family and the Fire Nation government officials quietly deliberated among themselves.

"Okay then, we'll do it." said Izumi. "If it's to save this nation, then it's worth the risk."

"Alright then, now we just wait." said Tenzin. "We'll set up a trap and wait for them to come and spring it."

With everyone in agreement, they all then continued to discuss other things, such as the specifics of the plan and the meeting continued on for about another half hour.

* * *

It was now later in the day, long after the meeting had ended, and nighttime was fast approaching. Mako and Bolin were by themselves outside the house pacing along the trail that cut through the area. They were walking together towards the garden behind the house, where in the distance they saw Azula sitting by herself and gazing up at the moon.

"Well, are we going to do it Mako?" asked Bolin. "Are we going to ask her about it?"

"Yes, we are." said Mako.

"Maybe we shouldn't." said Bolin. "Wouldn't it be kind of rude to just randomly walk up to her and ask her about her past? Besides, we don't know if it was really her. Maybe they just look alike."

"If we don't ask her about it, we'll never know the truth." said Mako. "Would you be able to continue on living your life and just completely ignoring what it was we saw?"

"No, I guess not." said Bolin. "But how will we tell her?"

"I'll handle that part." said Mako. "Now is probably our last chance to do this. We might not get another opportunity to ask her about it because of everything that's going on. It's now or never. Even if we're wrong, it'll still be good for us because at least we'll know the answer."

"Okay then, let's do it." said Bolin.

The two of them then began to make their way towards the garden and approached the bench where Azula was sitting.

"Hello there Mako and Bolin." said Azula, taking notice of them. "What brings you two here this evening?"

"We were just feeling a little anxious about everything that's been going on lately, so we decided to take a walk to calm ourselves down and relax." said Mako.

"I often come here whenever I need to escape from my troubles." said Azula. "It helps me to clear my mind."

"You don't really seem to hang around much with the rest of your family." said Bolin. "Do you like the peace and quiet?"

"I've always been like this." said Azula. "The only person I really spend much time with is my husband Akairyuu. However, it still often gets lonely when you're old. There's nobody to come and visit you, especially for me."

"Oh, that's right." said Bolin. "You don't have any children or grandchildren. Well, you did have one."

"Yes, my daughter, who is no longer alive." said Azula.

"Azula, what exactly was your daughter's name?" asked Mako. "Was her name Haruko?"

"Yes, it was." said Azula. "How did you know that? I don't think I ever told you her name. Did Zuko or someone else from my family tell you?"

"There's a possibility that she is someone we once knew." said Mako. "In fact, she was someone who was very important to us."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Azula, now intrigued. "You knew my daughter? How did you know her?"

"Well... she was..." said Mako, now becoming nervous and unable to say his words.

"She was most likely our mother." Bolin quickly blurted out, finishing Mako's sentence.

"What?" asked Azula, now shocked. "How can this be?"

"The thing is, we think you might be our grandmother." said Mako, now regaining his thoughts.

"Your grandmother?" asked Azula.

"Yes." said Mako. "We saw the picture of your daughter hanging on the wall inside the house. We're certain that she's the same person as our mother. They look exactly alike, and that baby she's holding in the photo was most likely me."

"The name we knew her by was Naoki, but her real name that she was born with was Haruko wasn't it?" said Bolin. "Our mom never spoke much about her past. All we knew was that she was a refugee from the Fire Nation who had fled because of the civil war. She ended in Republic City, where she met our dad and married him."

"This is her isn't it?" asked Mako, pulling out a picture of his family and showing it to Azula, pointing to his mother.

"Yes, that's her." said Azula, now stunned. "I can't believe it. It really is her!"

"So you are our grandma after all!" said Bolin, excited.

"She doesn't really look much like me or Akairyuu, but she definitely has the looks of my mother Ursa." said Azula. "You also seem to have her eyes Mako."

"Our other grandmother said the same thing about Mako." said Bolin.

"Is this what she was hiding?" asked Mako. "I never would have guessed she had a past like this. I knew there was something about her past that she wasn't telling us. She was always sending letters to someone, but she would never tell us to who. Those were the letters that she sent to you that you mentioned before, right?"

"It was in one of those letters that she sent me that picture of you when you were a baby Mako." said Azula. "She told me that she had two children, but that was the only picture she ever sent me."

"When I eventually became a police officer, I was a little curious and decided to do some digging." said Mako. "I did some research and examined her birth certificate, and I found out that it was actually an elaborate fake that had been created when she was here in the Fire Nation. Most of the details on it about her background were false. Even her name Naoki wasn't real. Beyond that though, I wasn't able to find out anything more."

"She went that far to hide her identity?" asked Azula. "Was she really that ashamed of who she was?"

"What was it that happened between you two that drove her away and made her go to the United Republic in the first place?" asked Bolin.

"It's a long story." said Azula. "As she started to grow up, we began to see things very differently and we started to grow distant. We would always argue and fight with each other over how she should live her life. I only wanted the best for her, but it seemed that the life of royalty just wasn't for her. One day we had a particularly bad argument over the fact that she would only be allowed to marry someone who was a Fire Nation noble and not someone who was a commoner. She just didn't want to live that way. Afterwards, she decided that she would run away to the United Republic where she would start a new life. She renounced her title as a princess of the Fire Nation and left her life of royalty behind. I didn't hear from her for a few years, but eventually she sent me a letter. She told me of how she had gotten married to an Earth Kingdom man by the name of San. She seemed so happy, and I was finally able to accept her choice. We started to rekindle our relationship and began writing letters back and forth to each other, telling of our lives. She told me all about her two children Mako and Bolin, and how you two were always such a handful."

"That sounds a lot like what our dad told his mother Yin." said Bolin.

"So you two really are my grandchildren." said Azula, cheerfully. "It feels so strange. I've always wanted to meet you, and now here you are, suddenly right in front of me."

"Why didn't you try to contact us after our parents died?" asked Mako. "When they died, we were all alone in the world and had nobody to look after us. We didn't even know if we had any other family members left."

"It was because I felt as though I didn't deserve to be your grandmother." said Azula.

"Why is that?" asked Mako.

"It's because I'm partially to blame for the death of your mother and father." said Azula, sadly. "It's my fault that they were killed to begin with, because of a past mistake I had made."

"What are you talking about?" asked Bolin. "How could you possibly be responsible for their deaths?"

"What is the reason that you think your parents were killed by that rouge firebender?" asked Azula.

"He was trying to mug them." said Mako. "My parents tried to fight back, and they were killed."

"Is that really why he killed them, or is that what the police told you and what you believed because you didn't really understand what had happened?" asked Azula.

"What do you mean?" asked Mako.

"That firebender who killed them was out for revenge." said Azula. "Revenge against me."

"Revenge?" asked Bolin. "But, why?"

"It was because of something that had happened during the civil war." said Azula. "I fought in the war to protect the Fire Nation and the royal family. During one of the battles, a young soldier serving the warlords had attempted to take the life of dear Izumi when she was escaping. I saw him approaching, and before he could reach her, without thinking, I struck him down and killed him with my firebending. However, I turned my back on him, believing him to already be dead. As he was dying, with his final ounce of life, he was able to fire off one more attack at me, which severely burnt my back. It left this terrible burn scar on my back which remains to this day."

Azula turned around and pulled down her robe, showing her back to Mako and Bolin. Running down from her neck to her lower back was a very large burn scar. She then pulled her robe back up and turned back to face them.

"That sure is one nasty scar he left." said Bolin.

"So how does this connect to the death of our parents?" asked Mako.

"As it turns out, the father of that young man, who was one of the commanders of the opposing forces, found out about his son's death and was distraught with grief and anger." said Azula. "After the war ended, he was so full of hatred towards the one who had killed his son and he wanted revenge. He tried several times to kill me, but each time he was stopped. He then decided that if he could not kill me, he would take away from me the very thing I had taken from him, my daughter. He eventually fell on hard times, and his life took many turns for the worst and he became a poor and homeless, but he never gave up on taking his revenge. He eventually learned of where Haruko had gone and traveled to Republic City. He stayed there for a while, constantly searching for my daughter. One day, he found her in the city when she was with you, and he attacked, killing both her and your father. Even though he was arrested and sent to prison for life after that, he had finally gotten his revenge on me."

"So that's what really happened?" said Mako.

"When I received the news of what had happened, I was absolutely heartbroken." said Azula. "He had made me feel the same pain he had felt, and I had been punished for what I had done. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find it in me to hate him for what he had done, because deep down, I knew it was my fault and that I had brought it upon myself. Ever since the war, long after it was healed, that burn scar on my back would often cause me pain at various times, almost as if the vengeful spirit of that young soldier I had killed was reminding me of my sin. Ever since then, the ghostly face of that young soldier whose life was taken away so soon has always haunted me in my dreams. I've done so many bad things in my life, and even though I've changed much from who I once was, I can never erase what I've done. That scar is like a representation of all the bad things I've done and the consequences they've had. In some way, this scar is like a punishment for all of my actions."

"It wasn't your fault." said Mako. "You had no way of knowing what would happen."

"That's what everyone always tells me, but it still doesn't make the pain go away." said Azula.

"Haven't suffered enough in your life?" asked Mako. "Isn't it time that you finally let the past go and moved on?"

"I can't help but feel really bad for you." said Bolin. "Come on, you need a hug."

Mako and Bolin both then embraced Azula and expressed their sorrow for her.

"How can you just brush off what I told you like it's nothing?" asked Azula, with tears in her eyes. "A monster like me doesn't deserve to be loved by you. It's because of me that your mother and father died. If it hadn't been for what I did, your parents would still be alive today. The real person who killed them is right here in front of you. You must hate really hate me after what I've told you? Why do you pity me instead?"

"We all make mistakes, and nobody's perfect." said Bolin. "One thing we've learned over the years is that your family will always be your family, no matter who they are. We can't just turn our backs on them for something they did in the past. Up until a few years ago, Mako and I didn't even have a family. It was just the two of us on our own, but now we have a whole big family we never knew existed, and now you're a part of it too. You, one of the most famous people from the Fire Nation. That in itself is amazing."

"Why would we hate you?" asked Mako. "To reject you would be to reject a part of who we are. We're both of the same blood, and nothing will ever change that. So what if you made a few wrong choices in your life? So have we, and look at how we turned out. We don't blame you for what happened. What happened in the past can't be undone, and hating yourself for it won't help either. We can only continue to move forward now."

The expression in Azula's face seemed to change from one of sorrow and self-loathing to one of happiness and understanding.

"We love you grandma." said Bolin, hugging Azula again.

"I love you too." said Azula, now putting her arms around Mako and Bolin and hugging them.

She then sat back down on the bench with the two of them and they leaned against her shoulders on both sides.

"You know, our mom used to hold us like this all the time when we were kids." said Bolin.

"I can't believe it." said Mako in disbelief. "We're actually related to a royal family. When grandma Yin hears about this, she'll probably faint from excitement. Bolin, you know how she is around royalty."

"Do you want me to introduce you two to your grandfather?" asked Azula. "He'd probably love to meet you."

"Sure, let's go meet him." said Bolin.

"I really am fortunate to have found someone like him." said Azula. 'He's the only person whose been able to put up with me every day. Without him, I would have been completely alone in my life, but now I have you two. Come with me. I'll take you to him."

The three of them then got up from the bench and started to walk down the path leading back towards the house as fireflies lit up everywhere around them. There, they would find Akairyuu, who was sitting on the porch and reading a newspaper.

* * *

It was now a few days later, and Korra was out in the courtyard practicing her bending, as Asami looked on. After about a few minutes, they were then joined by Mako and Bolin.

"Hey Korra." said Bolin. "What are you up to now?"

"I'm just training and practicing with my bending." said Korra. "I've got to be ready for when the Red Lotus shows up again."

"Maybe we should join you and train together." said Mako. "We got our butts handed to us the last time we fought the Red Lotus."

"That sounds like a good idea." said Asami.

"Hey Mako, I've been wanting to ask you something for a while." said Korra.

"What is it?" asked Mako.

"Can you teach me how to lightning bend?" asked Korra.

"You want to learn how to lightning bend?" said Mako.

"We're up against some really skilled benders, so it seems like it might be a good idea for me to try and learn as many useful bending abilities as I can." said Korra. "Bolin has already taught me how to lavabend a little bit."

"Okay then, I guess I could try and teach you, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to lightning bend now that one of my arms can't function properly." said Mako.

"All you really have to do is tell me how to do it." said Korra.

"It's not that simple." said Mako. "Not every firebender is able to learn how to lightning bend. It's one of those things where you either have the talent for it or you don't."

"Alright then, at least show me an example by creating some lightning." said Korra.

"Fine then, I'll try." said Mako.

Mako then began to make a circular bending motion with his arms as lightning began to charge up around them. He then extended out one of his arms and let out a bolt of lightning. The bolt was tiny, and it only shot out for about two seconds before it rapidly shrunk and then fizzed out.

"That's it?" said Korra. "I know you can do better than that Mako."

"It seems like the injury on my left arm is having a huge effect on my bending." said Mako.

"How so?" asked Korra.

"While my regular firebending still seems to mostly work just fine, I've been having trouble lightning bending ever since I got that injury from destroying Kuvira's mecha giant." said Mako. "In order to lightning bend, you have to be able to simultaneously channel energy through both of your arms and direct its flow before shooting it out. With one arm you separate the positive energy around you, and with the other arm you separate the negative energy around you. The injury I got seems to have caused a disruption in the flow of chi to my left arm. Every time I try to lightning bend now, the flow of energy is completely unbalanced, so it just fails altogether. Lightning bending uses up a lot of chi and can be very taxing on your body, and if you overuse it like I did, it can have some dangerous consequences. Luckily, this injury is all I got. If I'd have kept it up any longer than I did, I could have lost my entire arm."

"So it's that bad?" said Korra. "Maybe the next time we're in the South Pole, you could have Katara take a look at your arm and see if she can do anything about it."

"I've been wanting to do that for a while." said Mako. "The main reason I haven't done it yet is because I've been so busy up until before we went on this vacation."

"I guess I'll have to look for someone else to teach me lightning bending." said Korra.

"Don't give up just yet." said Mako. "I think I might know someone who could teach you..."

"Yeah, that's right Mako." said Bolin. "I almost forgot. She could definitely teach Korra how to lightning bend."

"Who is this person?" asked Korra.

"You'll see." said Mako, smiling. "Just follow us."

Mako and Bolin then began to lead the way along the path snaking around the house as Korra and Asami followed behind. Eventually, they reached a wide open area on the shore by the sandy beach surrounded by rocks and boulders of various sizes. There, they found Azula sitting on one of the rocks and relaxing in the sun.

"Hello Azula." said Korra. "Are you the person Mako was talking about?"

"Hello Avatar Korra." said Azula. "Are you out for a walk on the beach as well?"

"It actually is a nice day." said Korra. "I was just following Mako. He told me he was taking me to see someone."

"What is it dear?" Azula asked Mako. "Did you need to see me for something?

"Grandma Azula, Korra wants to learn how to lightning bend." said Bolin.

"I would teach her, but I can't because of my injury." said Mako. "We're wondering if you would be able to teach her."

"_Grandma Azula_?" asked Asami, with a strange look, though she didn't seem surprised.

"Oh yeah, we forgot to mention it." said Bolin. "The other day, we found out that Azula is our long lost grandmother, from our mother's side of the family."

"You don't really seem too surprised by this news." said Mako.

"It looks like our guess was right Asami." said Korra, with a grin on her face.

"Wait, you two knew about this?" asked Mako.

"More or less." said Korra.

"The moment we saw that picture of Azula's daughter, we had a sneaking suspicion that you were her daughter's children that she had mentioned before." said Asami. "We were wondering how long it would take for you guys to figure out your connection to her."

"No wonder you made the suggestion for Azula to come with us on our mission." said Mako.

"We were hoping you would find out the truth and bond with her." said Korra. "I've noticed that over the past few days, you two have been awfully friendly with her."

"Well, it worked, and now we have another member of our family." said Bolin.

"I can also feel that something has changed about you Azula." said Korra. "It feels as tough a heavy burden has been lifted from your heart."

"It has indeed." said Azula. "These two helped me to finally move on with my life and stop blaming myself for my daughter's death."

"Does this mean you that two are pretty much royalty?" asked Korra, turning to Mako and Bolin. "Is it possible that one of you could become the Fire Lord one day?"

"Not exactly." said Mako. "We're not from the main royal family. We're part of a branch family, so we aren't considered to be directly connected to the throne. The members of a branch family are very far down the line of succession to the throne of the Fire Nation. Technically, we aren't really royalty. We just happen to share the same blood as royalty."

"The current Fire Lord is the daughter of the previous Fire Lord, my brother Zuko." said Azula. "After her, the throne will most likely pass to her son Iroh, and from him to one of his children, if he ever has any. If not, it would then pass to his sister, and then to her children, if she ever has any. Next in the line of succession are several other people, including their cousins, and their aunts and uncles. After a long list of people, if there still isn't a successor, it would finally go to me, and then to my children, and their children. The only way it would ever reach Mako and Bolin is if all of the members of the main royal family somehow died and their relatives died as well. Something like that is probably unlikely to happen, but with what's going on now, who knows. I'm too old to rule the Fire Nation, so I hope it doesn't happen."

"I don't very much like the idea of having to run an entire nation either." said Mako.

"I've been wondering this for, could the Fire Nation possibly exist without a royal family to rule over it?" asked Azula, changing the subject. "Is it really so wrong what the Red Lotus is trying to do by changing the Fire Nation and removing the monarchy? Although they may be going about it the wrong way, looking at the bigger picture, it actually doesn't seem that bad if you see it from the perspective of the average person. For thousands of years, the Fire Nation has always been ruled by a monarchy, and has known no other way. Times have changed, and the world is different now, so maybe it's time that the Fire Nation changed as well instead of trying to preserve its old ways."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Korra.

"Maybe the monarchy should step down and allow the people to create a government in which they rule themselves." said Azula. "I used to want to rule the Fire Nation, but now, I've realized that so far, the rule of monarchies has caused nothing but strife and conflict throughout the Fire Nation's history, so maybe it's time to finally do away with them altogether."

"That's sort of like what Prince Wu did with the Earth Kingdom." said Korra. "He has proved that a radical idea like that can actually work and be successful."

"The problem is that my brother Zuko and his daughter Izumi seem to have become caught up in preserving the status quo and traditions of the Fire Nation in order to satisfy the nobility, aristocracy, and other members of the ruling class. They're so keen on keeping things the way that they are because they're afraid of something like the Hundred Year War or the Fire Nation Civil War could happen again and they want to prevent that. However, it's only causing harm to the majority of the Fire Nation, and is why the Red Lotus wants to overthrow them in the first place."

"It must be hard being caught between those two extremes." said Korra. "They want to try their best to keep the Fire Nation together and unified, but their actions are in fact making it worse and leading things in the opposite direction."

"Take what I've told you into consideration." said Azula. "This conflict is much bigger than you can imagine. Either decision you make will in some way have consequences, both big and small, and both good and bad."

"I think I know what I should do now." said Korra. "Azula, after we defeat the Red Lotus, I'm going to help you to create a new democratic government here in the Fire Nation. It may be hard, and the other members of the royalty and nobility might not want to give up their power so easily, but I'll do it. Even though it could still have some consequences, in the end, the positives will far outweigh the negatives. Preserving the status quo, or just doing nothing will make things worse. A decision must be made, and I believe that this will be the best course of action for the Fire Nation and is the one with the most positive outcome. I don't care what the small ruling minority will think. It has to be done, for the sake of the Fire Nation."

"You're starting to sounds like Zaheer." said Asami.

"It may be similar to what the Red Lotus is trying to do, but I won't do it their way." said Korra. "I'll do it differently, and better."

"I'll help you then." said Asami.

"So will I." said Mako.

"Me too." said Bolin.

"That civil war has caused so much damage to the world we live in, and even to our own lives." said Korra. "It made Unalaq, Zaheer, and the Red Lotus members into the people they are now. It caused the kidnapping attempt that led to me being isolated for most of my life. It led Unalaq to releasing Vattu and fusing with him during Harmonic Convergence. It led to the Red Lotus killing the Earth Queen and throwing the Earth Kingdom into chaos. It led to Kuvira rising to power, and leading her into her conquest of the Earth Kingdom. It's also what led to me being poisoned, and it's also indirectly because of it that Mako and Bolin lost their parents. It's time to end it. We are going to break this chain of tragedy and misfortune that has continued to stem from it."

"Well said Avatar Korra." said Azula. "I have faith that you'll be able to do what needs to be done."

"We'd better be prepared then." said Asami.

"So Azula, would you be able to teach me how to lightning bend?" asked Korra.

"Of course I can." said Azula. "Who do you think you're talking to? When should we start?"

* * *

Korra had now been training with Azula for the past few hours on the beach in order to learn how to lightning bend. She was finally starting to get the hang of it and was doing what Mako had told her. She began to do a bending motion with her arms and started to charge up a bolt of lightning.

"Now Korra, fire it." said Azula.

Korra then held her arm out towards the ocean and let out a surge of lightning. The bolt was very small, and it only lasted for a few seconds. It quickly fizzed out, and as it retracted back to her hand, Korra felt a painful jolt, which caused her to jump.

"Did you accidentally shock yourself?" asked Azula. "You'll have to be careful. That can happen sometimes when you lose focus."

"I guess I can't relax until the bolt has completely dissipated." said Korra.

"You're doing well." said Azula. "If you keep practicing, you'll get better at controlling it."

"I'm usually very good at picking up new bending abilities quickly." said Korra.

"It's almost ironic." said Azula. "I'm teaching you the very same bending ability that I once used to kill your past life, Avatar Aang."

"Am I the first Avatar that's ever learned how to lightning bend?" asked Korra.

"No, but you are the first Avatar to learn it who isn't from the Fire Nation." said Azula. "Even among the Avatar's who were from the Fire Nation, not many of them learned it either. One well known Avatar that did learn it though was Avatar Mei-Ling. Lightning bending was an ability that in the past was only known by a select few, such as those of the royal family. Since Mei-Ling was a princess of the royal family, that is how she came to gain the knowledge of it."

"I remember hearing about Avatar Mei-Ling." said Korra. "She sounds like she was remarkable woman, like how Avatar Kyoshi and Yangchen were."

"Many of the female Avatars from the past were." said Azula. "They accomplished a lot of things in their lifetimes. It is said that after learning how to lightning bend, Avatar Mei-Ling discovered the way to mastering it."

"How did she do it?" asked Korra.

"She found the original benders of lightning." said Azula.

"Original benders of lightning?" asked Korra. "What are you talking about?"

"A little known fact is that there are actually other creatures in this world that are capable of bending the elements." said Azula. "Creatures other than the sky bison, who were the first airbenders, the badgermoles, who were the first earthbenders, the dragons, who were the first firebenders, or the moon spirits, who were the first waterbenders. While there are other creatures who can bend the four elements, they don't all bend them the same way. They all have different ways of utilizing their bending."

"So which animal was it that could lightning bend?" asked Korra.

"There is a creature known as the electric eel-hawk, which is capable of producing lighting by bending it." said Azula. "They fly high in the sky, up into the clouds, and they use their lightning bending to catch and kill their prey. It was by watching them that the concept of lightning bending was first discovered. At one point in her life, Avatar Mei-Ling found a group of eel-hawks and by observing them and training hard, she was able to greatly improve her lightning bending."

"I wonder what other creatures there are out in the world that can bend the elements?" said Korra. "Probably not manyy. Most of the different variations of the four bending styles were first created by people rather than animals."

"There aren't very many eel-hawks left in the world." said Azula. "They have become an endangered species."

Over to the side, sitting on the rocks, were Asami, Mako, and Bolin, who were watching Korra. With Bolin was his pet fire ferret Pabu, who squeaked with glee as Bolin gave his a fire-kiwi to eat. Bolin on the other hand was playing around with a piece of metal and was easily changing it into all kinds of shapes and sizes with his new metalbending abilities.

"I feel like I can actually do this." said Korra. "I'll learn how to lightning bend just as good as Avatar Mei-Ling could."

"That's good." said Azula. "If you're up for it, I can also teach you how to redirect lightning as well."

"How do you do that?" asked Korra.

"It's similar to how waterbenders are able to redirect an enemy's force and use it against them." said Azula. "You must create a pathway for the lightning from your fingertips, up your arm, to your stomach, and then out of your other arm. You have to be careful that the lightning doesn't pass through your heart though, or it could be deadly."

"That sounds simple enough." said Korra.

"I'm getting a little tired now." said Azula. "I'm going to go back inside for now. You can continue practicing here without me if you'd like."

"Hey grandma Azula, do you think you could teach me something too?" asked Mako, as Azula started to walk away. "Would you be able to teach me your special plasma-bending ability?"

"That's a very difficult and dangerous technique." said Azula. "It requires first having a masterful control over lightning bending in order to change its shape and form into plasma. I'm not sure how well you could do that with your injury, but it doesn't require you to use both arms, so maybe you could do it. Why would you want me to teach it to you anyway?"

"I don't want to feel left behind because of this injury I have." said Mako. "Korra and Bolin have already learned new bending techniques, and these Red Lotus members also have strange bending abilities of their own, like that earthbending kid Sanken's strange magnetic metalbending, or how Tensu is able to create explosions with his firebending. If I want to be able to compete with them, I'm going to need to learn some new skills as well."

"Okay then, we'll see if we can do it tomorrow." said Azula.

"Hey guys, we should train together." said Korra, looking at Asami, Mako and Bolin. "This might be our last chance to practice and hone our fighting and bending skills. The Red Lotus could show up any day now, so we should be prepared."

"I'm up for it." said Mako.

"My hand to hand combat skills could use a little work." said Asami. "Over the past few months, I've started to pick up some of the basics of chi blocking. Some of my family members have learned the skill in the past, like my aunt Ayame, and have taught me a little bit of it. I've been wanting to try it out."

"You could ask Zhu Li to help you train." said Bolin. "She's very skilled at martial arts and knows a lot of moves. She'd make a perfect sparring partner for you."

"Is there anything that Zhu Li isn't good at?" Asami asked jokingly.

Asami, Mako, and Bolin then got up and joined Korra. Together, they began to spar and bend with each other as part of their training.

* * *

Meeting in a dark office room at the Red Lotus hideout were Tensu, Sanken, Mei-Ling, and Xai Bau, who was seated in his wheel chair. Together, they were discussing what the next stage of their plans would be.

"We are almost ready to begin the final stage of our plans." said Xai Bau.

"Are we finally ready for that?" asked Tensu, surprised at the new development. "Is it finally time for the Red Lotus to begin its takeover?

"Yes, we are." said Xai Bau. "However, there is one factor that could complicate things. That factor is the Avatar."

Inside the room there was a projector, which was projecting a slideshow of black and white images onto the wall. It was a slide show of images that had been collected over the years of the exploits of Avatar Korra, from the Equalist Crisis all the way to her defeat of Kuvira, and as Xai Bau spoke, he cycled through the various slides.

"I guess this means that she is considered a foe to us and must be eliminated?" asked Tensu.

"We may have one more us for her yet." said Xai Bau. "If she plays right into our hands, than it just might give us the time we need to get things started."

"Are you sure that she'll fall for it?" asked Tensu.

"Most likely, though it could go either way." said Xai Bau.

"You're uncertain?" asked Tensu.

"She is the one piece in this game that's completely unpredictable and that's out of our control." said Xai Bau. "She is like a black lotus flower; deadly and mysterious." In front of Xai Bau on his desk was a Pai Sho board. On the board were several red and white pieces with images of flowers aligned in a distinct pattern. Xai Bau then pulled out a single black piece with a lotus image on it and set it down onto the board with the other pieces. "This Black Lotus will either be what helps us to achieve our goals, or kills us altogether."

"What will you have us do then?" asked Sanken.

"The time has almost come for our window of opportunity." said Xai Bau. "We cannot let this chance slip away. Everything is prepared for the revolution to begin and everyone is ready to set out, along with the army of revolutionaries we have gathered from our supporters in the Fire Nation. Now I will need you three to go and buy us a little time while we set things into motion. Go to Ember Island, and do as we planned. If anyone there tries to stop you, including the Avatar, kill them."

"We'll do it then, with pleasure." said Tensu. "I can't wait. Finally I'll have a chance to get my revenge on those accursed royals."

"By the way, where is Zaheer?" asked Xai Bau. "As one of the grandmasters of the Red Lotus, I thought he would be beside himself with joy to be with us in our glorious moment of triumph."

"He never returned from his errand that he went on." said Tensu. "I haven't seen or heard from him since then."

"Has Zaheer abandoned us and our cause?" asked Xai Bau. "It matters not. Ours plans will still move forward whether he's with us or not."

Tensu, Sanken, and Mei-Ling then began to walk out of the room and started to leave for their most important mission yet.


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Day of the Red Sun

It was still dark out, but dawn was now fast approaching. Korra and her friends had been training together on the beach for the past few days and now they are testing out the fruits of their labor.

"Now Korra, begin." said Azula.

Korra then began to make a bending motion as she charged up lightning with her arms. When it was fully charged, she sent a large bolt of lightning out towards the sea as it left a trail of smoke behind it.

"That was very good." said Azula. "Now try and redirect it."

Azula then charged up some lightning of her own and shot it towards Korra. Korra quickly reacted and with her arms she absorbed the bolt and began redirecting its flow, and after a few seconds, she shot it back out into the sky.

"Did I do it right?" asked Korra.

"That was magnificent Korra." said Azula. "You've made very good use of these past few days of training."

"Knowing how to redirect lightning will probably come in very handy the next time I have to fight the Red Lotus." said Korra.

"Alright then Mako." said Azula. "Show me how far you've come in your training."

"Okay then, here I go." said Mako.

Mako then began to charge up a small amount of lightning in the palm of his right hand and started trying to change its form. The lightning began to shape into a small yellowish-white orb, which retained its shape for a few seconds. Mako then started to quickly lose control, causing the orb to fall out of his hand. Upon falling from his hand, it landed in the sand right at his feet and began to melt the sand into glass before it dissipated.

"It seems I'm still having trouble controlling it." said Mako, who seemed discouraged. "It's more difficult than I thought."

"You're doing pretty well for someone who started learning the technique only a few days ago." said Azula. "It took me years before I figured out the right way to do it. It's not something you'll master quickly."

"My hand feels like it's on fire now." said Mako, who walked over to the ocean and dipped his hand into the water, causing a small amount of steam to rise.

"Look on the bright side Mako." said Korra. "Plasma bending is something that would probably take me several years to learn, if I'm able to do it at all. I wouldn't be able to learn it right away like you because it first requires having a mastery over lightning bending, which you already have. You've got a huge head start over me."

"Looking at it that way, I guess you're right." said Mako.

"Now Bolin, it's our turn to try out what we've learned." said Korra, turning to face Bolin. "We're going to see how much our lavabending has improved."

Surrounding Bolin were several shapes and figures made out of metal that Bolin had created. Although they all formed the same figure, going from the left to the right, Korra could see that each shape was more detailed, intricate, and refined than the last. Bolin was getting even better at his metalbending.

Korra and Bolin then started to make a bending motion and melted several of the rocks and boulders surrounding them and began bending the lava they created with great precision and fluidity, with their movements closely matching those of a waterbender. They manipulated the lava in various ways and even created a moat around themselves. They then levitated many of the small rocks around them and started to melt them as well, and proceeded to fire off the melted pieces of those rocks straight into some nearby boulders, causing them to shatter as they were chipped apart by the molten projectiles. After they were finished, they cooled all of the lava they had created back into volcanic rock.

"You've gotten really good at this Korra." said Bolin.

"Let's see how you've improved Asami." said Korra, turning to face Asami and Zhu Li in the distance.

"Here we go Zhu Li." said Asami.

Asami and Zhu Li then began a practice fight where they would test out their hand to hand combat skills. They fiercely attacked, punched, kicked, and dodged each other with great speed as everyone else watched.

"Wow, look at them go." said Bolin. "They're really good. I wouldn't want to be unlucky to have to fight either of them in unarmed combat."

Asami and Zhu Li then concluded their sparring match and went over to Korra.

"I'm ready to try out those chi blocking techniques that I've practiced." said Asami.

"Alright, do it." said Korra.

Korra and Asami then began to spar and Asami made several quick jabs with her fingers at various points on Korra's body. Korra could feel her body go limp in the places where she had been struck and then tried to use her bending. When she did, she found that she was unable to bend.

"It looks like you did it." said Korra. "I can't use my bending."

"I'm only a beginner at this." said Asami. "With the level my chi blocking is at right now, it'll probably wear off in a few minutes. Some of the most skilled chi blockers can make it last for several hours or even days."

"I'd say we all did pretty good with our training in the short amount of time we had to work with." said Korra.

"It looks like the sun is coming up." said Azula, noticing the sun rising over the horizon.

"It's time to put out these fires." said Korra, turning to face three small campfires that they had lit earlier so that they could see during their training.

Korra, Mako, and Azula each walked over to one of the three fires and began making a bending motion. With their firebending, they slowly made the fires shrink and condense, and when they closed the palms of their hands, the fires went out, having been suffocated.

"That's strange." said Bolin. "I've never seen firebending used like that before."

"It's actually a very easy technique that any firebender should be capable of doing." said Azula. "However, most firebenders aren't aware of it because they're more focused on starting fires with their bending rather than putting them out. It's an alternative way of putting out fires by controlling the flames and making them shrink and condense so that they put themselves out by suffocation."

"The sun looks very ominous today." said Bolin, pointing out the blood-red sunrise. "Is it normal for the sun to be red like this in the Fire Nation?"

"It sometimes looks red on summer mornings like this and stays like that until about noon." said Azula. "It's nothing unusual here in the Fire Nation."

"For some reason, I'm getting a really bad feeling." said Korra, remembering the paper that Zaheer had dropped, with the image of a red lotus flower inside the sun. "Red suns have been known to usually coincide with fierce battles. Red is the color of the red lotus flower that represents the Red Lotus and the color of the Fire Nation. Red is also the color of blo..."

"It's time Korra." said Iroh, who now appeared on the beach to greet them. "It's about to start, so we need you all to get ready and be in position."

"Oh that's right." said Bolin. "Today is when Firelord Izumi will be giving a speech here on Ember Island to address the current situation in the Fire Nation to the people."

"We're almost certain that the Red Lotus will try to attack during the speech." said Iroh "There's no way they'll be able resist such a perfect opportunity. It's the best bait we have to lure them out. Hopefully they'll take it, and when they do, we'll strike."

"This is our chance to find where out Xai Bau is and stop him." said Korra. "We can't mess this up."

"Alright, let's go." said Iroh.

Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Zhu Li, Azula, and Iroh all then started to leave and make their way from the beach to the town square on Ember Island. There, they would wait for the Red Lotus to come and spring the trap.

* * *

Gathered in what seemed to be the control bridge of a large airship were many Red Lotus members. Sitting in his wheel chair at the commander's section of the bridge was Xai Bau, who was addressing his followers, and wearing the attire of a Fire Nation general. He was speaking into a microphone that was connected to an intercom system that ran throughout the airship and the Red Lotus base.

"The time has finally come." said Xai Bau. "Today is the day of days that we have so long prepared and suffered for. Today is the day that the Fire Nation of old falls as a new one rises in its place. Today you will witness the rebirth of a nation." Everyone on the deck began to cheer as Xai Bau spoke.

"For nearly 200 years, no one nation has caused more chaos and imbalance in the world because of the single minded actions of its monarchy and government than the Fire Nation has." said Xai Bau. "Today, we are going to change that. Our revolution is about to begin. Our fleet and our forces are ready, and the revolutionary army we have created is in place, ready to attack at our command. Our agents on the inside are all in position as well and are ready to assist us when we give the signal. I have just received word that Grandmasters Tensu, Sanken, and Mei-Ling are about to make contact and begin their special operation on Ember Island. Now is the time for us to strike. We must be quick, or we will miss our window of opportunity. Now, we set out for the Fire Nation capital. This flying fortress, the Red Sun, shall be the flagship that will lead our invasion on this glorious day of reckoning. Now, let the revolution begin!"

Everyone cheered again and then with haste went to their stations. In front of Xai Bau's chair was a table with a Pai Sho board on it.

"So it begins." Xai Bau said to himself, putting a piece onto the board. "From here, I shall direct the battle."

All around them, the surrounding area shook as the airship began to take off from the hanger inside the Red Lotus base. The hanger doors on the ceiling opened and as the ship rose, it was clearly visible that it was utterly massive. Not only was it an airship, but it was also an aircraft carrier with a hanger of its own, and it was lined all over with cannons. It was like a flying fortress, and as it rose, numerous other airships and planes rose as well from the Red Lotus base and began to join it, forming into a large fleet. The Red Lotus had been building this flying fortress and the fleet that accompanied it for a long time within the abandoned industrial district in which they made their headquarters, and now it was finished and ready to go. On the side of the flagship was painted a large Red Lotus symbol, under which were written the characters that read as _"Red Sun"_, the name of the airship. The Red Sun and its large fleet began to fly off into the horizon as they made their way towards the Fire Nation capital. However, standing on top of one of the airships in the distance was Zaheer, who had discreetly landed and hid himself there in order to observe from afar the battle that would happen.

* * *

Korra was now in the town square on Ember Island, and all around her were large crowds of people who had gathered to hear Firelord Izumi's speech. Up on the top of the podium was Izumi, and around her were several guards and Fire Nation soldiers, as well as Lin, Bumi, Zhen, Iroh, and Iroh's younger sister. Scattered around and hidden in various places throughout the town square were Tenzin, Kya, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, Kai, and Opal. In the very back of the crowd, safe from where the danger would be, were Pema, Rohan, Zuko, Azula, Akairyuu, and Kiyi. Korra made her way out of the crowd as she discretely looked around. She then pulled out a small radio and turned it on.

"There's no sign of them here." said Korra, talking into the radio. "What about you guys?"

"Same here for me and Bolin." said Mako, responding over the radio.

"What about you Asami?" asked Korra. "Did you, Zhu Li, or Varrick spot any sign of them?"

"Nope, not a thing." said Varrick, butting in as Asami was about to answer.

"Are you sure they'll show up?" asked Bolin. "What if we're wrong? Do you think that maybe they figured out what we're trying to do?"

"It's too late to be doubting ourselves now." said Korra. "Trust me; I just know they're going to show up. Knowing the Red Lotus, they aren't going to bother trying to be covert. That Tensu seems to have a flare for the dramatic and will most likely make a flashy entrance. Just wait, they'll show up soon enough, and when they do, everyone will know they're here."

Half an hour passed and still there was no sign of them. In the distance, Korra could see a large mass of clouds fast approaching upon the town.

"That's weird." said Mako over the radio. "Iroh, is it supposed to rain today?"

"No, it isn't." said Iroh.

"It's them." said Korra, with a serious tone. "Some of their benders must be creating those clouds to hide their approach. They're here. Everyone get ready."

As soon as Korra finished her sentence, several smoke bombs then flew into the town square, landing in the courtyard. Everyone began to panic and scatter. Out from the city streets appeared several disguised Red Lotus members, who had been lying in wait in order to make an opening for their approaching airships comrades. The dark clouds were now directly overhead and quickly dispersed. Emerging from them were two airships, which had been hidden inside. Out of the airships jumped several Red Lotus members and revolutionaries, who repelled down on ropes, and with them sure enough were Tensu, Sanken, and Mei-Ling.

Korra and everyone else emerged from their hiding spots and quickly made their way to the town square, where a fierce battle erupted as both sides tried to make their way towards Firelord Izumi. Korra and Tenzin started using their airbending to try and clear away some of the smoke, and were then met with opposition from various Red Lotus members. They began fighting the Red Lotus soldiers and they were quickly defeated, after which they continued to make their way towards Izumi. Korra then saw Tensu appear out of the smoke, who then rushed towards Izumi in a mad dash.

"Die Firelord Izumi!" Tensu yelled. He sent out a large, explosive blast of fire towards Izumi, which was redirected at the last second by Iroh, but it still took out a large portion of the stage. Iroh and Tensu began fiercely bending at each other and started to fight.

"Tensu, is that really you?" asked Iroh.

"Yes it's me Iroh." said Tensu. "Now move aside. I have no desire to kill someone who was once my friend, but I won't hesitate to destroy any obstacle that stands on the path to my goal."

"Sorry, but I can't do that." said Iroh. "I'm not letting you or any other Red Lotus members kill my mother."

"So be it then." said Tensu. The two rushed at each other and continued their fight. Their fight became progressively more destructive and took them throughout the town square as some of Korra's friends joined to help him. Iroh was joined by Asami, who then started to fight Tensu in hand to hand combat, leaving him open to Iroh's attacks. She then decided to try and use her chi-blocking techniques on Tensu in an attempt to weaken him. Each time she jabbed at him, she felt her fingers hit something hard, causing them to hurt. Tensu continued to firebend towards her and Iroh, the chi-blocking seemingly having no effect on Tensu.

"Why can't I chi-block him?" Asami asked Iroh, surprised. "That should have done something."

"That cheap trick won't work on me." said Tensu. "Most of my body is made of metal. There's nothing for you to block."

"Asami, get back." said Iroh. "He's too strong." Iroh then came in closer to help Asami as she made some distance from Tensu and the fight continued.

Elsewhere, Korra along with Zhu Li were fighting Mei-Ling and several Red Lotus members, being careful not let her get too close to them, while Izumi and the rest of the royal family began to make their way out of the town square and away from the smoke, escorted by Lin and Bumi. They were stopped by Sanken, who began earthbending and creating several walls of earth, in an attempt to cut them off. Sanken then threw several metal cords with weights at the ends and with his metalbending sent them towards Izumi, her daughter, and Zhen. They wrapped around their arms and legs and tripped them, causing them to fall down. Lin then started to earthbend towards Sanken in an effort to stop him.

As Korra fought off some of the approaching Red Lotus members, Zhu Li was left to fight Mei-Ling on her own. After an intense battle, Zhu Li was eventually able to overwhelm her and knock her out, causing her to fall to the ground unconscious, with Zhu Li standing over her victoriously.

"Wow Zhu Li, that was amazing." said Korra. "She was one of the Red Lotus members who had given us the most trouble, and you were able to defeat her easily. Now I see why Varrick kept you as his bodyguard before you two got married."

"It's what I do best." said Zhu Li. "I'm skilled in many different fighting arts."

Korra then stopped and quickly looked around the town square to get an idea of what was currently going on. There was still some smoke around, but she was able to see where everyone was and who was fighting who. However, she noticed that one person wasn't there; she couldn't see Asami anywhere. Korra suddenly began to worry, and frantically looked around for her, all while avoiding attacks from other Red Lotus members.

"Lin, where is Asami?" Korra called over towards Lin as she fought with Sanken.

"I don't know." said Lin. "When I last saw her, she went to go help Iroh."

"Stop right there Team Avatar." a voice yelled out. "Don't make another move."

Everyone suddenly froze when they looked and saw where the voice was coming from as the smoke was finally beginning to clear. Korra turned around and saw that it was Tensu. Iroh stood nearby, battered and bruised, and right at Tensu's side was Asami, who Tensu held in his grip with a hand placed over the back of her head, and his other arm holding her by the shoulder, forcing her to kneel to the ground. On Asami's face, Korra could see a look of complete shock and fear.

"You have already witnessed for yourselves the explosive bending I'm capable of doing with this arm of mine." said Tensu, gesturing towards the hand with which he held Asami by the head. "You don't want me to use that on your friend here do you; you remember what happened to P'Li?" Tensu then turned towards Korra. "This woman is someone important to you, isn't she Avatar Korra? If you want her to live, then surrender this fight and hand over the royal family."

"Let her go Tensu." said Korra.

"Only if you let go first." said Tensu. "Nobody has to die, for now. Our mission here is to capture the royal family. We won't kill them yet, but we have plans for them later."

"Fine then, you win." said Korra, as everyone hesitantly backed down. "Take them and go."

Sanken then led the tied up Zhen, Izumi, and her daughter to Tensu, who then had the Red Lotus members take them into the airship. Sanken then also tied up Iroh in the same way and led him into the airship as well. All the Red Lotus members in the town square got aboard the airships and prepared to leave, and as this was happening, Tensu carried the unconscious Mei-Ling back with them. As she was leaving, Asami suddenly seemed to have a calm expression, and showed no signs of fear as she had earlier when Tensu had captured her.

"Just in case you try anything as we're leaving, she's coming with us." said Tensu, gesturing to Asami.

"What!?" said Korra. "That wasn't part of the deal."

"She will be our insurance." said Tensu. "Don't worry, we'll release her when we're far enough away, and then you'll have her back."

"Fine then." said Korra. After about a few minutes, the two airships carrying the Red Lotus members, along with Asami and the royal family took off, leaving Korra and her friends behind. Tenzin then approached Korra.

"That was risky Korra, but they've taken the bait." said Tenzin. "Do you have a feel for their spiritual essence now?"

"Yes." said Korra. "Now I'll be able to find them wherever they go with my spiritual tracking technique."

"Izumi's prediction was right." said Tenzin. "They wouldn't kill the royal family here, because it could make them look like martyrs. Instead, they've decide to keep them alive for later."

"Asami getting captured wasn't part of the plan though." said Mako, joining Korra. "How will we get her back? They might not keep their word."

"I had to improvise." said Korra. "We couldn't risk losing this chance. Don't worry though, I have something in mind."

"What is it?" asked Bolin, also joining in. "Why did Asami seem so calm right before they left?"

"It's because she knows I'll be able to find her." said Korra. "This may have given us an even greater advantage. While I might not be familiar with the spiritual essence of the Red Lotus members or the royal family, I'm very familiar with Asami's and will be able to find hers much easier and from much further away. This is the perfect way to find them. If Asami is with them, they're going to lead us straight to their base."

"Oh, I see." said Bolin. "That's actually a good idea."

"We now have the perfect opportunity because of Asami." said Korra. "Let's not waste it."

"Alright everyone, after them." said Lin. "Now we find their base of operations and end this."

Everyone then started to get on their sky bison and took off, following the Red Lotus from a distance, so as not to alert them.

However, on the Red Lotus airship, Tensu, Sanken were gathered in the bridge of the airship, with Mei-Ling lying on the ground next to them.

"They're following us, just like we knew they would." said Sanken.

"Good." said Tensu. "Everything is going exactly as Xai Bau predicted. Kidnapping that woman has now ensured that the Avatar will have ample reason to follow us. At this point, it doesn't matter anymore if they find the base or not. All we have to do now is just keep them occupied until noon. After that, we'll rejoin Xai Bau and the rest of the invasion force." Mei-Ling then finally woke up and got up to her feet.

"What happened?" asked Mei-Ling. "How did I get here?"

"You were knocked out by one of the Avatar's friends." said Sanken.

"That woman who defeated me was a lot more skilled than I thought." said Mei-Ling. "I can tell she's had lots of training in the martial arts."

"Ah, so you're awake now?" said Tensu, taking notice. "Good. Mei-Ling, we have something we need you to do for us."

* * *

Xai Bau sat at the command bridge of his flying Fortress, the Red Sun, as he observed the fleet through the window of the airship. In the distance, he could see their target, Fire Nation capital city, coming into view as they approached. He then moved several pieces on the Pai Sho board in front of him and advanced their positions while removing other pieces from the board.

"Tensu, Sanken, and Mei-Ling now have the Avatar's attention." Xai Bau said to the Red Lotus members surrounding him. "Now Capital City is in our sights, and we are ready to start the next phase. It seems as though we are just in time for the main event, and not a moment too soon."

Xai Bau looked out the window and observed the sun in the sky with its reddish glow. Right beside the sun was a large black orb, the moon, which was slowing moving across the sky and making its way closer to the sun. Eventually, it started to pass in front of the sun, and a solar eclipse began to take place.

"The solar eclipse has started." Xai Bau said over the radio to his forces. "Begin the attack. Now we strike, while they are weak and vulnerable and their attention is diverted."

All throughout the sky, the airships of Xai Bau's fleet began launching their fighter planes and started dropping their payloads of bombs onto the city. Soon afterwards, a large army of revolutionaries that had been lying in wait in the volcanic landscape under the cliffs outside the city rushed into the capital to begin their assault as well. Red Lotus members also began to parachute down from the airships and upon landing joined the revolutionaries to assist them. In a short amount of time, the city quickly fell into chaos and disarray. Civilians were fleeing, and Fire Nation soldiers were trying their best to defend the city, but many of them were confused, not knowing what was going on. As soon as the attack had begun, the invading forces had either cut or destroyed the communication lines and radio antennas for the city, and now with no way of calling for help or communicating with their superiors, the defending soldiers were quickly overwhelmed. The invading force had also been assisted by several disguised, undercover Red Lotus agents, who had been lying in wait and hidden in the capital city to help prepare things for the invasion on their side, and now they had finally revealed themselves and were joining with the rest of their comrades in the attack. With the royal family absent, the Fire Nation military forces stationed in the city were missing a large portion of their leadership, and to make matters worse, now of they were unable to firebend because of the solar eclipse that was occurring. This was a well-coordinated and strategically planned attack that had been in the making for a very long time, and now this was the precise moment that the Red Lotus had been waiting for to strike.

"It's almost ironic." said Xai Bau, observing the battle going on in the city below. "All those years ago in my younger days, when the Fire Nation was attacked on the Day of Black Sun by the Avatar's forces, I merely watched from afar at the Fire Sage temple, but now years later, my role is reversed and I'm the one invading this time. Now, the Fire Nation of old will be destroyed, and from its ashes be born anew."

* * *

Two sky bison darted through the sky, rapidly heading away from Ember Island and following the path that the two escaping Red Lotus airships had taken. On one sky bison was Korra, Mako, and Bolin. On the other was Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, and Lin. Opal, Kai, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo had stayed behind with Rohan, Pema, Varrick, and Zhu Li, as well as Zuko, Azula, Akairyuu and Kiyi, mostly to keep them safe, but also because of the urgency and seriousness of the rescue mission being attempted. A small, skilled, and highly specialized team was required for the job. Very soon after they left, they would be followed by some reinforcements from the Fire Nation army that Zuko and Azula had sent to assist them on their mission.

The two teams on their sky bison followed the airships from a distance for a few hours until they disappeared into a thick smog hovering over what appeared to be a heavily polluted and abandoned industrial district. Upon reaching the smog to follow the airships inside, the sky bison immediately turned around and refused to go any further.

"What's wrong?" asked Korra. "Why won't the sky bison go any further?"

"It must be all the smog and heavy pollution in the air." said Tenzin. "Sky bison can't stand dirty, polluted air like this and their bodies are very intolerant of it."

"I guess we'll just have to continue on foot." said Lin.

The two groups then landed their sky bison a good distance away from the industrial complex, and then they proceed to enter the area leading to the Red Lotus headquarters in the industrial complex on foot.

"The Red Lotus base is here?" asked Kya. "What a horrible and disgusting place."

The group continued on until they reached what appeared to be the entrance to a large, abandoned factory.

"They're in there." said Korra. "I can sense it."

They all entered and made their way through a twisting maze of metal hallways that led throughout the large building, until eventually they reached a wide open room with equipment and assembly lines scattered all throughout it. In the middle of the room, Korra could see Asami tied up to a metal pole and her mouth was covered. Upon seeing her, Korra immediately ran over to Asami and untied her, also removing the gag.

"I'm glad you're safe." said Korra, hugging Asami. "It turned out to be a good idea to follow you with my spirit tracking technique."

"Korra, it's a trap." said Asami, seemingly surprised that Korra came to the factory. "The Red Lotus tricked you. The royal family isn't here."

"Wait, what do you mean Asami?" said Korra. She then used her spirit tracking technique and noticed that she couldn't find a single trace of the royal family. "How did this happen? They're all gone."

"On their way here, they had them moved to the other airship and then they were taken away by the Kyoshi woman and some of the other Red Lotus members. After that they split up and went in different directions." said Asami. "They mentioned something about taking them to Xai Bau."

"No, this wasn't supposed to happen." said Korra, now disheartened. "How did I miss this? I was so focused on tracking your spiritual essence that I didn't even notice that they'd swapped them to the other airship during the trip. The plan was to allow the royal family to get captured so that we could follow them, and when we did, we would take them back. The whole thing completely backfired."

"They pulled a fast one on us." said Asami. "They used me to lure you here while the royal family was sent somewhere else."

"Wait, you mentioned that the Kyoshi woman left with the royal family." said Korra. "Does that mean that some of the other Red Lotus members are still here?"

Suddenly, a large blast of fire was shot towards Korra and Asami, who managed to dodge it at the last second. Korra turned to see where it had come from and saw Tensu and Sanken standing on top of a catwalk on the upper levels of the factory.

"So your plan was to lure me here all along Tensu?" said Korra. "What have you done with the royal family? Where did you take them?"

"Don't worry, they're still alive, for now." said Tensu. "We're saving them for later. Once we have control of the Fire Nation, we will have them publicly executed in front of all of the people who have suffered for so long under their rule. However you should be more worried about yourselves right now."

Tensu and Sanken then jumped down from the catwalk and landed on the factory floor below. Soon after, several Red Lotus members came out of various hiding places in the factory and joined them, surrounding Korra and her friends. Immediately reacting, Tenzin send out a blast of air that surrounded the group and pushed it outward towards the group of Red Lotus members, and at the same time, Lin caused the earth underneath them to move and crumble, disrupting their balance. In the aftermath of their attack, both sides charged towards each other and the battle began. Tensu and Sanken soon made their way to the group and started bending towards them.

"Lin, you know what to do now, don't you?" asked Bolin.

"Yes." said Lin. "We have to separate those two from each other if we're going to have any chance of defeating them."

Bolin and Lin then started to bend a large amount of earth and sent it up from the ground between Tensu and Sanken in an attempt to create a wedge between them and widen their distance from each other. Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, and Lin rushed towards Tensu while Korra, Asami, Mako, and Bolin took the other route and went for Sanken. All around him, Sanken began bending all of the metal he could find that was scattered throughout the factory and started to hurl it towards Korra, Asami, Mako and Bolin as well as trying to create obstacles for them; anything to put some distance between him and them. Tensu on the other hand was now faced with four very skilled opponents and was barely holding his own against them. He started sending several explosions towards his opponents with his bending, but each time, Tenzin was able to push them away with his airbending, and as soon as they got close enough, he was forced to immediately switch back to regular firebending.

The battle raged on for a while longer, and then suddenly, after Tensu shot out a large ball of flame, it fizzed out and he found that he was unable to firebend to anymore. Korra and Mako, who were also nearby and were using firebending, found that they too could not use their firebending. All of the firebending Red Lotus members who were with Tensu and Sanken had also seemingly lost their firebending abilities.

"What's going on?" asked Korra, confused. "Why can't we use our firebending?"

"Oh, I remember now." said Mako, now realizing something. "Earlier today, Azula told me to be careful because there's supposed to be a solar eclipse that'll happen later during the day. For a short time, all firebenders will lose their bending abilities." Mako then pointed towards a window, through which the sun, eclipsed by the moon was clearly visible. The sun looked evil and menacing, especially how it was almost completely black except for the eerie red glow around the edges.

"The Red Lotus had to have known about it." said Bolin. "Why would Tensu lure us here, knowing that he would be at such a huge disadvantage when the eclipse happened? That's a huge risk to take."

"Oh no..." said Korra, now coming to a sudden realization and then recalling the image on the paper that Zaheer had left behind, with a red lotus flower appearing in front of the sun. She now understood what it was supposed to mean. "Why didn't I realize it sooner?"

"What is it Korra?" asked Mako.

"I have a really bad feeling about this Mako." said Korra. "We need to end this fight quickly."

"It's already too late Avatar." said Tensu. "We've already done what needed to be done, and you cannot stop the events that have been set in motion."

"I've heard that before." said Korra. "We'll just see about that."

Realizing that this was now their change to defeat Tensu and Sanken, everyone resumed their fights and continued the onslaught of their bending attacks.

"Sanken, go, we're getting out of here now." Tensu called out to Sanken. After he said this, all of the other Red Lotus members in the room started to flee and leave through a doorway near the back of the room.

Sanken then started to run out of the room, following after the Red Lotus members who had just left, and Korra, Asami Mako and Bolin gave chase, with Bumi joining them, but Sanken kept ahead until he ran out of the doorway, which he then sealed with his metalbending.

"He got away." said Mako. They then started trying to look for a way around.

Tenzin, Kya, and Lin continued their fight with Tensu, realizing that he was now vulnerable.

"I may not be able to firebend right now, but I can still do this." said Tensu. Tensu held out his arms and sent out two large funneled blasts of air towards Tenzin, Kya, and Lin. Tenzin then responded with airbending of his own, and it started to overpower the airbending coming from Tensu's arms. Pushing the air back, Tenzin got closer and closer to him until his hands were right in front of Tensu's and then he pushed the air back into his arms and grabbed his hands. A grinding metal sound and then a crack could be heard coming from Tensu. The internal mechanisms inside of Tensu's mechanical body that created his airbending had just been destroyed, and now Tensu could no longer use his artificially produced airbending.

"That artificial airbending of yours is nothing compared to the real thing." said Tenzin.

Tensu then escaped Tenzin's grasp and put some distance between him. Lin then ran towards Tensu, and with a powerful punch, she struck Tensu in the chest. As she punched him, she incorporated some of her metalbending into the punch, creating a large dent in Tensu's mechanical body and sending him flying back towards the wall at the far side of the room, where he landed hard. Lin then ran towards him for another attack, but right before she could reach him, Tensu gave her a large head-butt, which knocked her to her feet and disorientated her. Seeing a chance to run, Tensu attempted to flee, but he didn't get very far. Kya then started to waterbend a large amount of water in the factory from a cooling tank and sent it straight at Tensu. It completely soaked him, after which Kya froze the water. Tensu was now completely unable to move. The frozen water was now inside all of his mechanical joints, locking them up and making him immobile. This was exactly what Kya was hoping would happen.

Tensu was now panicking, and could not find any way out of his situation. He looked out the window and saw that the moon was now finally gone and the solar eclipse was about to end. He just needed a few more moments. As they were rushing towards him, his firebending finally returned. He took a very deep breath and then started exhaling through his nose. All of the frozen water stuck in his joints started to melt away and create a large amount of steam. He finally managed to free himself and as Tenzin, Kya, and Lin came towards him, they were forced to step back as well as cover their eyes due to all of the hot steam that Tensu had produced from the water.

With them distracted, Tensu made a break for it and ran out of the room and down a twisting hallway that would lead to the outside of the factory. As he was escaping, he came across Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Bumi, who had been trying to follow Sanken. Upon seeing him, they all started to attack him with their bending, and he in return sent his firebending towards them.

"Guys, I have an idea that I want to try." said Bolin. "This'll probably only work once though, so be ready to go for the opening it'll make." Bolin then made a bending motion and started trying to metalbend one of Tensu's arms. Tensu could feel the inside of his left arm being crushed. He heard something snap, and then his arm fell limply to his side, having lost its functionality because it had been disconnected from the rest of his body.

"Good job Bolin." said Korra. "You took out one of his arms with your metalbending."

"I really am getting better at this." said Bolin.

Tensu seemed to ignore this and just turned around and continued to run away from them. They started to run after him and right as they approached him, Tensu turned towards them and with his other arm, he lifted his left arm so that it pointed towards them, and with his mouth, he grabbed a metal cord that was sticking out of the side of his arm and pulled it with his teeth. Right after he pulled the cord, his left arm suddenly fired out of its socket and went flying towards his pursuers like a rocket, spewing fire behind it. Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Bumi ran back and took cover right as the projectile hit the ceiling and exploded. The explosion caused a small portion of the ceiling above them to collapse and block the hallway. Now separated from them after having sacrificed one of his mechanical arms, Tensu continued running and made his way outside. He looked up and saw an airship hovering in the air, and Sanken was inside. Sanken went over to the outside of the airship and made a bending motion. Tensu found himself being pulled along and levitated into the air, and then he was pulled onto the airship, almost as if a magnet had pulled him aboard. With his metalbending, Sanken had managed to retrieve Tensu and bring him aboard the airship due to his mostly metal body.

"The hallway is blocked." said Mako, who along with the others was still in the hallway that Tensu had fled from. "We'll have to find another way out."

"I didn't know his arm could do that." said Bolin, surprised. "Did any of you guys know?"

Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Bumi then went down another hallway and started to go around to the other side, and along the way they were joined by Tenzin, Kya, and Lin. The eight of them quickly made their way outside where they saw the Red Lotus airship rising into the air and starting to take off. It was now too high for them to get to and their bending would not be able to reach it.

"You and the Red Lotus can't just keep running forever." Korra yelled out to Tensu, who was standing by the open hatch of the airship.

"We don't have to run anymore." said Tensu. "We've already won. Our mission here is now complete. Our job was to just delay you for as long as possible and we've accomplished that."

"What are you talking about?" asked Korra.

"Our leader Xai Bau would like to have a few words with you before we part." said Tensu. Tensu then pushed a button near an intercom speaker and then a radio signal began to be broadcast through the airship's intercom speakers.

"Greeting Avatar Korra." said the voice on the intercom, which was that of an old man. "I am Xai Bau, the leader and founder of the Red Lotus. I believe that this is probably the first time we have spoken."

"That voice." Korra whispered quietly. "There's something strange about it."

"I must congratulate you for all of the work you have done in helping us." said Xai Bau. "Because of all of your actions here in the Fire Nation up until this point, you have given us the chance and opportunity for us to progress our plans."

"What are you talking about?" asked Korra. "In what way did I help you?"

"In every way." said Xai Bau. "By having the royal family moved to Ember Island, you have ensured that they would be away from the capital. By following Tensu to our base, you have given us the window of opportunity we needed on the Day of Black Sun in order to begin our revolution. By going out and deliberately searching for answers to the mysteries of our organization, you have unknowingly diverted your attention elsewhere and allowed us the time to build up our forces without notice. For all of your help in bringing about these things, I thank you. The entire time you have been here in the Fire Nation, even though you haven't realized it, you have been an unwitting pawn in this grand game which I have set in motion. Now we have won."

"Are you mocking us?" said Korra. "What did you do Xai Bau?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, because now the Fire Nation is under our control." said Xai Bau. "Now, farewell Avatar. Leave this nation if you wish, because opposing us now is futile."

The broadcast then ended and the intercom speakers shut off. The airship began flying away, and as it did, Tensu held out a remote and pressed a button on it. Right after he pressed it, several explosions started going off throughout the factory and surrounding buildings, destroying them, and any potential evidence that could have been left behind in them. When they were a safe distance away, Tensu sat down in a seat on the airship and started to rest.

"It looks like they did some serious damage to you." said Sanken, noting all of the damage to Tensu's mechanical body that Tenzin, Kya, and Lin had caused. "Why couldn't you have been more careful? You could have died you know. What would I do then with you gone?" Sanken seemed to have a look of worry and sorrow.

"It's to be expected." said Tensu. "The opponents I fought were no laughing matter. They were the children of the original Team Avatar. They're some of the strongest benders in this world."

"I'll try and fix you up as best as I can." said Sanken. "But for now, just rest." Sanken then used his metalbending to fix the dent in Tensu's body, realign some of his joints, and close up the metal end of what remained of his left arm at the elbow joint.

"Yes, rest..." said Tensu, falling asleep in the chair.

Back at the factory, Korra and her friends gathered together after having escaped the destruction of the factory.

"Should we go after them?" asked Lin.

"No, it would be pointless now." said Korra. "We don't even need to because it's pretty obvious by now where they're going."

"We wouldn't be able to catch up to them anyway." said Tenzin. "By the time we walked all the way back to the sky bison and started pursuing them, they'll be long gone."

"Well this has just been a big, dangerous waste of time." said Mako, sounding somewhat upset.

"For now, let's just get back to Ember Island and explain the whole situation to Lord Zuko." said Korra. "He needs to know about this."

They then started to walk back, and as they did, the airship that had been sent from Ember Island finally caught up to them, and they were joined by it on their way back to Ember Island, during which they landed their sky bison on the deck of the airship.

* * *

A few hours later, Korra and her friends were now back on Ember Island at the royal resort and they had just finished explaining the situation to Zuko, Azula, Kiyi, Akairyuu, and any other important government officials that were left.

"Those Red Lotus scoundrels!" said Zuko. "They've made a complete mockery of us! Now they've taken my daughter and the rest of my family and are going to do who knows what with them." Zuko sat down and put a hand on his forehead, feeling distressed and stopping to think for a moment. He seemed as though he was about to have a heart attack from the news, obviously very worried about his family. Mako then came into the room and rushed over to Korra and the others.

"Guys, I think you might want to hear this." said Mako, with a worried expression. Mako brought over a radio and set it down on the table and then proceeded to turn it on and tune it to the correct frequency.

"I repeat, we have just now received news that the Fire Nation capital has fallen." said the voice on the radio. "Earlier today, the capital was attacked by the forces of the Red Lotus, along with revolutionaries of the Fire Nation Liberation Front. The attack came during a solar eclipse, and after a fierce battle, they captured the city and have now hung their flag from the top of the Fire Nation royal palace. Communications to and from the city have been cut, which is why we are only receiving this news now, and several key government buildings and key infrastructure systems have either been captured or destroyed, and many key officials in the city have now been taken prisoner. The royal government has fallen, and the Red Lotus backed revolutionaries are now in control of the Fire Nation. Please stand by for further updates."

"So that's what they were after!" Korra said angrily, slamming her fist onto the table. "This was Xai Bau's plan all along. Our pursuit of the Red Lotus members who captured the royal family was nothing but a diversion; all so that he would have the opening he needed to attack the capital during the eclipse."

"It seems that so far everything that has happened has been masterminded by Xai Bau, and all of it was leading up to this." said Zuko. "Creating a situation where the royal family would leave the capital was all part of his plan, as well having your time wasted with all of your investigations, and also your pursuit of the Red Lotus members earlier today. It's like he's always thinking a few steps ahead of us, almost as if he's playing a giant game of Pai Sho where he controls all of the pieces and their movements."

"You know, you'd think that by now we'd be smart enough not to fall for stuff like this anymore." said Bolin, turning to Korra, Asami, and Mako. "But apparently, that doesn't seem to be the case."

"What should we do now?" asked Mako.

"There's not much we can do." said Zuko. "Xai Bau now has control over the Fire Nation and everything in it. The royal government for the most part no longer exists, and our military forces are in complete disarray."

"We could try calling for reinforcements." said Lin. "There could still be some military forces left in the Fire Nation, or maybe we could even call the other nations for help."

"We could try to call whoever is left, but I doubt the other nations will be able to help much." said Zuko.

"Why's that?" asked Korra.

"Not only has Xai Bau cut off all communication to the capital, but he has also cut off all outside communication to the other nations." said Zuko. "Nobody on the outside has any idea what's happening right now, and even if they did find out, there's not much they could do. These events are still technically considered an internal affair of the Fire Nation, so the other nations aren't really allowed to get heavily involved, and any aid they could give would be very low on their list of priorities. We are effectively cut off from the rest of the world. I guess this is what happens when the Fire Nation tries to stay isolated and distanced from the rest of the world for so long."

"We really screwed up big time." said Korra. "If we'd have thought our plan out better, then maybe this wouldn't be happening right now, or at least things wouldn't be as bad as they are now. The same thing that happened in the Earth Kingdom four years ago is now repeating itself all over again."

"It isn't your fault Korra." said Zuko. "You tried your best, but the Red Lotus was just too far ahead of us. I'm just worried about my family."

"Well, for now we should try and focus on doing what we can in our situation." said Korra. "We should try to gather any remaining forces that we can find here in the Fire Nation and form some kind of plan to fight back against the Red Lotus and defeat them."

"Defeat them?" asked Mako. "How are we going to do that? The Red Lotus now controls all of the Fire Nation and its government."

"Isn't it obvious what we have to do?" said Korra with a smile. "We're going to take back Capital City."

"Take back Capital City?" said Mako, surprised. "Korra, are you serious?"

"I said before that I'm going to stay here in the Fire Nation and do whatever I can to fix the situation, and that's exactly what I'm going to do." said Korra. "That goal still hasn't changed. Even though the situation may be similar to what happened in the Earth Kingdom a few years ago, I won't let it end the same way."

"That's the spirit Korra." said Tenzin.

"Alright then, let's start putting a plan together." said Zuko.

Everyone in the room seemed to share Korra's sentiment and started to regain their morale. They all then began to go about their tasks and stared coming up with a plan of action for what they were going to do next. Korra and Tenzin where the last ones to leave the room, and as they did so, Korra stopped Tenzin to tell him something.

"Tenzin, there's something I forgot to mention." said Korra, now with a different expression on her face. "When we encountered the Red Lotus back at the industrial district, before they got away, I felt something strange."

"Strange?" asked Tenzin. "What was it?"

"When Xai Bau spoke to me over the radio, I had a strange, inexplicable feeling." said Korra. "I know for sure that I've never meet Xai Bau before, yet something seemed oddly familiar about his voice. I just can't explain it. What could it have been?"

"That is indeed strange." said Tenzin.

"This may sound crazy, but could Xai Bau possibly have had some sort of connection to Aang?" asked Korra. "Do you think he might have been someone that Aang once knew? That's the only reason I could think of for why he would seem so familiar to me, despite the fact that I've never met him before."

"I don't know Korra." said Tenzin. "Your battle with Vattu had cut you off from your past lives, so far as we know, you shouldn't be able to remember something like that. Also, I don't remember Aang ever mentioning anything about ever meeting someone like Xai Bau. Who knows what this could mean."

"Well, I have an idea for something I'd like to try." said Korra. "If it works out, it could bring us one step closer to retaking the capital. I'll need you to take me to Jinora first."

Korra and Tenzin then left the room together, now on their way to locate Jinora.


	20. Chapter Twenty: The World Below

Korra was now sitting alone in the courtyard outside the resort on Ember Island, and with her was Jinora. The meeting had ended a few hours ago, and now everyone had set off on various tasks and missions of their own to help with the formation of a counterattack against the Red Lotus. Korra had a plan of her own for something she would try, and in order to pull it off, she would need Jinora's help. They were then joined by another person, Azula, who walked over to them.

"So this is where you've been Korra." said Azula. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to try something." said Korra. "If it works, it could be a big help to us in our counterattack."

"How will it help?" asked Azula.

"Since all communications in and out of the Fire Nation have been cut off, we have no way of contacting the other nations for help." said Korra. "So I had an idea. If we can't call for help by normal means, then I'll try something a little more unorthodox."

"What are you going to do?" asked Azula, now intrigued.

"I'm going to try using my spiritual powers of astral projection to call someone for help." said Korra. "But I'm not sure who I could contact. In order to project myself to someone, I first have to have some sort of a strong connection with that person. As of right now, there isn't really anyone like that in Republic City at this moment."

"I see, so you're having trouble deciding how to go about this?" said Azula.

"What if you called for help from the Earth Kingdom States?" asked Jinora. "They're much closer and could get here faster."

"That's probably not a good idea." said Azula.

"Why is that?" asked Jinora.

"Well, let's just say that the Fire Nation still may not have the best relationship with some of the other nations, even long after the Hundred Year War has ended." said Azula.

"Ah, I see." said Korra. "There could be trouble if any of those nations on less friendly terms with the Fire Nation were to find out."

"If those nations were to learn of what has happened here in the Fire Nation, they might try to take advantage of the chaotic situation to further their own goals." said Azula. "Believe me, I've been a part of Fire Nation politics long enough to know how things work. A lot of the Earth Kingdom States still hold some resentment towards the Fire Nation, and they might see this as an opportunity to get back at us and invade the Fire Nation, and then divide up its territory amongst themselves. As of now, the ruling council of Ba Sing Se doesn't really have full control over the Earth Kingdom States yet. Some of them might decide to go behind their backs and gain more power for themselves. Ever since Kuvira's rise to power, they've all just itching to expand their territory. It'll turn into one big free for all. The last thing we need right now is to have to fight two wars at the same time. If that happens, not even the Avatar might be able to help."

"Who can we trust then?" asked Jinora.

"I'd say the Southern Water Tribe and the United Republic are our best bet." said Korra. "They are the two nations that the Fire Nation has had the best relationship with ever since the end of the Hundred Year War. Not only that, but they will also have most incentive to help because of the economic relationship they have with the Fire Nation. However, we have to make sure that news of this doesn't get out to any of the other nations, or this could turn into a political mess."

"That means that we should only contact someone who is within those two nations that we can trust." said Azula. "But who?"

'Oh, I know." said Korra excitedly, now realizing the answer. "I could contact my father Tonraq. He's the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. He could easily have them mobilize their troops and come to our aid. Not only that, he could also call President Raiko in Republic City to let him know what's happened here, and have him send help as well."

"Why didn't we think of that earlier?" asked Jinora.

"There's one problem though." said Korra. "It might take them a while to get here. A few days at least. Who knows what could happen in that time."

"It's a chance we'll have to be willing take." said Azula. "Receiving just some help is much better than receiving no help at all."

"Alright then, I'll try." said Korra. "I'm still not very good with my astral projection, so I might only get one shot at this."

"You can do it Korra." said Jinora. "Just remember what I taught you and you'll do fine."

Okay, here I go." said Korra.

Korra then sat down and began to meditate and go into a deep trance. As she did this, her body began to glow and a blue light left her and shot off through the sky, flying away into the horizon at great speed. The light made it all the way to the Southern Water Tribe, where it reached a house on a snowy hill and entered it. There, the blue light approached a man, Korra's father Tonraq, sitting down on a chair, and materialized into a shape resembling Korra's body.

"Dad!" yelled Korra, getting Tonraq's attention. "I need your help."

"Korra!?" exclaimed Tonraq, jumping up in surprise from the unexpected sight of Korra's astral projection. "What is this? How are you here?"

"This is an astral projection." said Korra. "I'm projecting my spirit to you from all the way in the Fire Nation."

"You're able to do something like that?" said Tonraq amazed. "That's the first I've ever heard of it."

"Dad, I don't have much time to explain, so listen carefully." said Korra.

"What's wrong Korra?" asked Tonraq, noticing the urgency in Korra's voice.

"Something terrible has happened." said Korra. "The Red Lotus has attacked the Fire Nation and captured the capital. They've completely overthrown the royal government and cut off all communications with the other nations."

"What!?" exclaimed Tonraq, shocked. "So that's why all of the radio channels from the Fire Nation have been down. How did this happen?"

"Xai Bau and the Red Lotus had been secretly preparing their invasion, and they waited for the perfect moment during a solar eclipse to strike." said Korra. "Everything here is in complete chaos now."

"This is unreal." said Tonraq in disbelief. "The Red Lotus now controls the Fire Nation. What's going to happen now?"

"That's why I'm contacting you." said Korra. "I'm going to need your help."

"What can I do to help?" asked Tonraq.

"If you're able to, we're going to need you to gather whatever Southern Water Tribe forces you can muster and send them to aid the Fire Nation." said Korra.

"I can do that." said Tonraq. "Is there anything else you'll need?"

"We'll also need you to tell President Raiko about the situation here in the Fire Nation, and have him send reinforcements from the United Republic." said Korra. "I'll tell you the specific message to give him."

"Alright then, I'll get right on it."

* * *

Mako, Bolin, Asami, Lin, Akairyuu, Kiyi, and Zuko were now outside in the courtyard with several Fire Nation military officials, and were discussing the plans for their counterattack. So far, they had not had much luck in coming up with any sort of useful plan for a counterattack. Opal, Kai, Ikki, and Meelo had just returned from scouting out the area surrounding Capital City from the air, and were giving their report of what they had found.

"Were you able to locate any possible points of entry we could use?" asked Zuko.

"No, we couldn't find any." said Kai. "The area around the capital is too well defended. All the entry points from the ground are heavily guarded and have been fortified by the Revolutionary Army. The airspace above the city is also swarming with airships. We couldn't even come close to getting within sight of the city, otherwise we would have risked being spotted by the airships, and they would have shot down our sky bison with those huge anti-air guns on their airships. The flagship of the whole fleet looks more like a flying fortress than an actual airship."

"Asking the spirits from the surrounding areas for information wasn't really much help either." said Opal, adding to the conversation. "They don't really seem to know anything. Even before the invasion, they have always made a conscious effort to avoid Capital City. They don't seem to like all of the advanced technology, industry, and pollution because of how much it bothers them."

"There's got be some way we can get in." said Bolin, now sounding frustrated.

"This isn't going to be like that time we fought against Kuvira's army in Republic City." said Lin. "Capturing a city is much harder than defending one, especially when it's a city as well fortified and strategically placed as Capital City."

A soldier then approached the group with some news from his superiors.

"I've have come to inform you all that the reinforcements have arrived." said the solider. "Any available remaining soldiers in the Fire Nation now have been gathered here on Ember Island."

"Good." said Zuko. "Let's go see them and bring them up to speed."

The group then followed the solider as he led them towards where the other soldiers were gathered. Upon reaching them, everyone noticed that there were at most only about a hundred soldiers gathered there.

"These are our reinforcements?" said Lin, sounding both disheartened and disappointed. "This is barely even a battalion. There's no way we'll be able to take back Capital City with a force this small."

"This is all we could muster for the time being, and on such short notice." said the soldier, who was actually the commanding officer for this group of soldiers. "The rest of the Fire Nation Imperial Army is either completely cut off from us, busy fighting in battles across the Fire Nation against the Revolutionaries and Red Lotus, or worse, have been captured by the enemy."

"I wouldn't judge them just yet." said Zuko. "Sometimes a small, skilled strike force could make all the difference in a battle."

"That may be so, but it won't matter if there's no way for us to get into Capital City." said Lin.

"So you're trying to get into Capital City?" asked a middle-aged looking man, stepping out from the group of soldiers. He alone stood out from the crowd because it was obvious from the way he was dressed that he was a Fire Sage. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to go back there now. Most people want to leave the city now after the attack, like I have."

"What!?" asked Lin in surprise. You were in the city? How did you get out? We haven't heard anything about anyone being able to leave. The Red Lotus and Revolutionary Army have the whole city on lockdown."

"I was able to escape through a secret way that only the Fire Sages know about." said the man. "The escape wasn't easy though. The way I got out from is very dangerous, and I could have very easily died if the conditions hadn't been just right when I escaped."

"Who exactly are you?" asked Mako, now intrigued.

"My name is Shuyen." said the man. "I'm a Fire Sage from the Fire Sage Temple in Capital City. Soon after the attack started, I was able to get out of the city and escape, and shortly after that, I ran into these soldiers, and I came along with them to Ember Island."

"Hmm, very interesting." said Mako, now getting an idea. "We might be able to use this to our advantage. Shuyen, can you show us where this secret pathway is and how to get into the city through it? I want to go check it out. I think it might be able to help us in our plan to retake the city."

"I guess I could show it to you." said Shuyen. "If it will allow us to defeat the Red Lotus, then I'm fine with it. However, I'm not sure if you'll like the journey."

"Why is that?" asked Mako.

"Let's just say it's more dangerous than what you may be thinking of." said Shuyen. "It isn't exactly the most ideal place, and it might even be hazardous to travel through."

"It doesn't matter." said Mako. "We need to retake Capital City from the Red Lotus. If it will mean victory, then it's a chance I'm willing to take."

"Alright then, I'll show you." said Shuyen. He then turned towards the group of soldiers. "First, we might need to borrow some equipment from you soldiers. It'll be very useful to us in our journey."

"Of course." said the officer from earlier. "Whatever you need."

A few minutes later, Mako and Shuyen were ready. The two of them then walked over to Bolin and Opal.

"We might need you two to come with us." said Mako. "We're going on a little scouting mission, and we could use your help. Especially you Bolin, considering where it is that Shuyen told me we're going."

"Count me in." said Bolin, sounding excited. "This sounds like it'll be fun."

The group of Mako, Bolin, Opal, and Shuyen then made their way towards Opal's sky bison and climbed abroad, taking the gear from the soldiers with them and taking off into the sky.

* * *

After having reached their destination by sky bison, Mako, Bolin, Opal, and Shuyen were now trekking through the volcanic wastes located near the outskirts of Capital City. After dropping them off, Opal's sky bison Lefty had flown off to a safe distance, where he would await Opal's call. They were far enough away not to be noticed by the forces around Capital City, but not close enough to be able to see any obvious way in. The group was dressed from head to toe in the protective armor suits worn by the Fire Nation soldiers, which was the equipment that Shuyen had requested from them before leaving Ember Island.

"The entrance should be around here somewhere." said Shuyen. He then found a hole in the side of one of the black cliffs, which looked like it led into a tunnel that went deep underground. "Ah, here it is, the entrance to the magma tunnels."

"This will lead us into the city?" asked Mako.

"Yes, it will." said Shuyen. "While the city itself rests within a large, dormant volcano, the area surrounding it is filled with many smaller, more active volcanoes. Below ground, many of these volcanoes have magma flow tunnels that connect to each other, and some of them lead to the massive caldera that holds Capital City. We're going to travel through these tunnels and use them to enter the city."

"That doesn't sound too bad." said Bolin.

"It's not that simple." said Shuyen. "When the city was first built, these tunnels were well known and used, but over time they were forgotten by all but the Fire Sages. It's because of how dangerous they are. Not only is it easy to get lost in them, but the layout of the tunnels is always shifting and changing due to the volcanic activity, and they can be very unpredictable. There's no telling when they could just fill up with magma and trap you inside to die."

"Oh, I see." said Bolin.

"However, that's not the worst of it." said Shuyen. "The volcanic activity that goes on underground in the tunnels is known to produce lots of poisonous gas. If you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, you'll suffocate and die as the gas burns and fills your lungs. The reason I was able to make it through was because I got lucky. At the time, the volcanic activity had happened to slow down for a bit, and the wind was blowing in the other direction. Combined with my knowledge of the layout of the tunnels, I was able to make a run for it the first chance I got and escape. The conditions most likely won't be as favorable this time."

"Is it safe for us to go in?" asked Mako.

"Under normal circumstances, no, but that's why we brought these." said Shuyen, gesturing to the protective armored suits of the Fire Nation soldiers they were now wearing. "They might make it a little harder to bend, but at least they'll keep us safe from the gas. I know the way, so I can lead you through. Just follow me and you'll be fine."

The four of them then put on the helmets of their suits, which had a breath mask built into them, and sealed them tight. They entered the tunnels and started to follow Shuyen as they made their way through. As they went deeper and further down, they began to see rivers and streams of magma flowing throughout the caves, crisscrossing its way through. The rumbling of volcanic activity could be heard, but also another noise that they did not recognize. Mako, Bolin, and Opal could hear a hissing and clawing noise nearby, as if something was crawling around, and then a splash, as if it had entered the magma.

"Shuyen, is there something alive down here?" asked Opal, sounding somewhat confused and freighted, noticing that whatever was making the noises seemed to be following them through the tunnels.

"Oh that?" said Shuyen. "That's just the lava salamanders. Just ignore them. They won't hurt you. They're just curious"

"Lava salamanders!?" asked Mako, in shock and surprise.

"Strange reptilian creatures that usually live in volcanic areas such as these." said Shuyen. "They're said to be the lesser cousins of dragons. They're also probably one of the few creatures that can survive and live down here. You'll see some soon. We're about to come across some now, just around the corner here."

As they turned the corner of one of the tunnels, they ended up in a very large, open cave chamber, inside which was a large pool of magma. In the pool, they could see a large number of strange, red, lizard-like creatures with cracked, rock-like armored shells fused to their backs and bodies. They were about the size of small crocodiles, and they looked like a strange fusion between a salamander, a tortoise, and an armadillo. Some were on the shores of the bank near the pool, and others were actually swimming around in the magma, somehow able to withstand the heat, most likely due to their armored exterior. The group of lava salamanders that had been following the group through the caves finally caught up to them and crawled over to the magma lake and entered it, joining their brethren for a swim.

"This is amazing." said Bolin. "Creatures like these exist?"

"The world is a wondrous place full of many surprises, is it not?" said Shuyen, smiling. "You never know what you might find hiding away in the deepest, darkest, strangest corners of the world."

"It's amazing to think that all of this is underneath Capital City." said Bolin. "It's like a whole other world down here; one completely separate from the world above."

Bolin then noticed that some of the lava salamanders appeared to be manipulating the flow and direction of the magma, controlling its path with their movements.

"Are they lavabending!?" asked Bolin, shocked at what he was seeing.

"They are indeed." said Shuyen. "The lava salamanders were the first creatures to be able to lavabend. Although lavabending is such an obscure and uncommon bending style, they were the original masters of it."

"This actually makes sense." said Mako, studying the lava salamanders with his gaze "During our training, Azula mentioned that aside from the original masters of the four elements, there were other creatures who had learned how to use those four elements in unique ways, even creating different sub styles, like lighting bending."

"It's said that Avatar Han-Jin's animal companion was a lava salamander." said Shuyen. "Even as a Fire Sage, he was much too terrified of dragons to ever come near one, which is why he chose a lava salamander instead. He learned lavabending by studying the movements of the lava salamanders in these very tunnels, and became one of the few Avatars to ever be able to use that unique bending style."

"Hmm, maybe I can learn a thing or two about improving my lavabending if I observed them." said Bolin. "I wish Korra were here to see this."

"Maybe when this is all over you can do that, but right now we have mission to complete." said Mako. "Let's keep moving."

The group continued on, being led by Shuyen. As they navigated through the tunnels, some of the lava salamanders still followed them out of curiosity. To occupy his time, Bolin carefully observed the fluid movements of the lava salamanders as they swam through the magma, and started to imitate them as best as he could. Bolin began to bend the magma as they did, and found that his lavabending was starting to improve slightly as he got the hang of it. The group finally reached the end of the tunnels, and at a dead end they found a wall that had a metal ladder on it, which led upwards into a shaft.

"Here we are." said Shuyen. "This shafts leads straight up into the Dragon Bone Catacombs, and through there we'll make our way into the Fire Sage Temple above them."

Shuyen began climbing the ladder, and Mako, Bolin, and Opal followed after him. After climbing for a while, Shuyen reached a hatch at the top and started to push it, and then climbed through the opening. Once inside, they found themselves inside a small, closed off compartment behind a wall. Shuyen pushed a statue of a dragon on the wall nearby and it opened up a doorway into the catacombs. They continued on walking through the winding and twisting catacombs, passing by many tombs of past Fire Nation royalty. They even saw some of the more recent ones, such as that of Firelord Ozai. There were also many shelves of books, scrolls, and other records, all throughout. After climbing a set of stairs, they eventually reached the temple above.

"We're in the city proper now." said Shuyen. 'Try to keep your voices down and be quiet. We don't know if there could be any enemies nearby."

"Shuyen?" a voice called out. "Is that you?"

Everyone turned, and saw a group of Fire Sages approach them from the other room, gathering around Shuyen.

"I can't believe it." said another one. "Why did you come back?"

"So these must be the other Fire Sages of the temple." said Mako.

"We had stayed behind here in the city while Shuyen escaped to go find help." said the head Fire Sage in the group.

"I found help, just like I planned." said Shuyen. "I made my way to Ember Island where the remaining military forces of the Fire Nation are gathering for a counter attack. Even the Avatar and the Three Dragon Siblings are there leading them. These three with me here are friends of the Avatar who had asked me to take them here to scout out a possible way to get into the city during the counter attack."

"So help is on the way?" said the head Fire Sage. "That's very good to hear. We've been trying our best to help out the people in the city during the occupation, but there's only so much we can do."

"You won't have to wait much longer." said Mako. "We're coming up with a plan to defeat the Red Lotus."

"Why don't you guys come with us?" asked Bolin. "I'm sure you probably don't want to stay here."

"We'd like to, but I don't think we can do that at the moment." said the head Fire Sage. "There are many people in the city who are in desperate need of our help. We can't just leave."

"It would probably be best if you stayed here anyway." said Mako. "If the Red Lotus or Revolutionary Army were to find that you were gone, they might realize that you have some way of secretly getting in and out of the city, which would ruin our element of surprise."

"We'll just stay here and bide our time until the counter attack." said the head Fire Sage.

"Any information you can give us about the current state of things in the city will be useful to us." said Mako. "After we leave, try to rally any remaining troops here, captured or in hiding, and tell them to be ready."

"We can do that." said the head Fire sage. "We also look forward to the arrival of the Avatar as well."

"Before we go, we'll take a quick peek outside and get a feel for how things are." said Mako.

After going outside the temple for a few minutes and examining the surrounding area, Mako, Bolin, and Opal went back inside to find Shuyen. Upon reentering, they noticed a large statue of what looked to be a Fire Sage that they had missed the first time they passed through.

"Who's that a statue of?" asked Bolin. "I didn't even notice it, with how dark the room was."

"That is Avatar Han-Jin." said Shuyen. "He was trained as a Fire Sage here at this temple, and as you already know, he learned the art of lavabending with his animal companion and all of the other lava salamanders in the magma tunnels below. He is also known for once trying to stop Sozin's Comet by pulling it out of the sky with his bending, which he failed at spectacularly."

Bolin looked at the statue and examined it closely. Its arms were held out, and it looked as though the hands had once held something long ago, judging by the large round indent in its overlapping palms. The indent was now occupied by a small candle, which had obviously been put there after the original item had been removed.

"I'll be adding him to my list of bending idols." said Bolin. "He sounds like an awesome guy."

"I think we're ready to go back now." said Mako. "We need to report back to everyone else on what we've found here."

"I'll lead you back through the tunnels." said Shuyen. "Take me back to Ember Island with you. I'd like to continue to help out however I can there."

The group of Mako, Bolin, Opal, and Shuyen then left the temple and went back into the tunnels. They reached the place outside where they had entered from and after calling Opal's sky bison Lefty to pick them up, they flew back to Ember Island.

* * *

Back on Ember Island, Korra, Asami, Jinora, and Azula stood outside, discussing their strategy. They were then joined by Mako, Bolin, Opal, and Shuyen, who entered the courtyard after having returned from their mission.

"Hello everyone, we're back now." said Bolin. "Did you miss us?"

"Where did you guys go?" asked Korra, noticing the armored suits they were wearing. "And why do you all smell like rotten eggs?"

"Oh, that." said Bolin. "That must have been from the sulfur in the volcanoes."

"Volcanoes?" asked Asami, intrigued.

"We went on a little scouting mission..." said Bolin. "To the heart of enemy territory, Capital City."

"What!?" exclaimed Asami. "How did you get there?"

"Secret tunnel." said Bolin.

"You were in the city?" asked Korra. "What were you doing there?"

"Reconnaissance." said Mako. "Korra, you're not going to believe it, but we actually found a secret way to get into the city, which we could use during our counter attack."

"That's great." said Korra. "We're now one step closer to retaking the city."

"How are things going for your group?" asked Mako.

"We were able to call the Southern Water Tribe for help." said Korra. "I used my astral projection to reach my dad, and now he's mobilized the Southern Water Tribe's military. He's also alerted President Raiko of the situation, and now the United Republic will be sending help as well. They should be here within the next few days."

"Looks like a plan is finally starting to come together." said Azula. "We'll have the Fire Nation back under our control before we know it."

"Let's go report on our progress to Zuko and the others." said Korra. "They'll probably be very happy to hear about this."

Everyone then left the courtyard and headed towards the war room, where Zuko and all of the Fire Nation military officials were currently gathered.

* * *

Gathered on the bridge of his flagship, The Red Sun, was Xai Bau, along with Tensu, Sanken, Mei-Ling, and several other Red Lotus members. They were discussing the current state of their occupation of the city and what their next move would be. With the Pai Sho board in front of him, Xi Bau was plotting out the movements of his own forces and that of the enemy's.

"Currently we've doubled our forces and strengthened our hold around the edges of the city." said Tensu. "We have seen no further signs of resistance from any of the remaining forces. Most of them have fled to the eastern part of the Fire Nation, where our hold is much weaker. Within the next few days, we'll be starting our push to take full control over those parts of the Fire Nation as well."

"Very good." said Xai Bau, moving some more pieces on the Pai Shi board. He then picked up the piece with the symbol of the black lotus flower on it. "Has there been any sign of the Avatar or news of her location?"

"No, oddly there's been none at all." said Tensu. "She's completely fallen off the grid."

"This can only mean one thing." said Xai Bau. "The Avatar is planning something."

"How are you so sure?" asked Tensu.

"Knowing the kind of person Avatar Korra is, there's no way she'll stand for something like this." said Xai Bau. "She and her allies are going to try to fight back."

"Even if they are, what could they do?" asked Tensu. "The entire city is under our control, and every point of entry has been covered."

"Do not underestimate the Avatar, Tensu." said Xai Bau. "If anything, past experience has taught us that the Avatar and her friends are very resourceful. They will come, and they will manage to find a way in. You must be prepared. Be on your guard and ready for when she appears in the city."

"How should we prepare then?" asked Tensu.

"Their first and foremost objective will likely be to rescue the royal family." said Xai Bau. "Tensu and Sanken, I'll need you to go down to the city and wait for them to appear. Take as many troops with as you'll need."

"Understood." said Tensu. "We'll go there now."

Tensu, Sanken, and the rest of the large group of Red Lotus members in the room all left to go to their objective, leaving only Mei-Ling with Xai Bau. The room was silent except for the sounds coming from the few pilots who were managing the controls of the airship. Xai Bau then put the black lotus piece down onto the board and advanced its position.

"Why didn't you send me with them?" asked Mei-Ling. "They'll need my help."

"It's because, I don't want you to go." said Xai Bau.

"Why?" asked Mei-Ling.

"It's much too dangerous for you." said Xai Bau. "This city will likely become a battlefield soon. It'll be no place for someone like you."

"What are you saying?" asked Mei-Ling. "I can fight. You've seen before how skilled I am."

"That's not the reason why I had you stay." said Xai Bau.

"Then what is it?" asked Mei-Ling. "Why don't you want me to fight?"

"It's because I don't want anything to happen to you." said Xai Bau. "Mei-Ling, you and I are quite possibly all that remains of our bloodline. I don't want you to die too, just like all of my other children and grandchildren have. I want you to live. Mei-Ling, I beg of you, please flee and get away from this city while you still have the chance."

"You know it's too late for me to do that." said Mei-Ling. "I've come too far. I can't just turn back now."

"Yes you can." said Xai Bau. "I know you didn't choose this life; you were forced into it, but it's not too late for you to stop and go back to your old life from before you joined the Red Lotus. You can still escape and leave all of this behind and start anew. You grew up without ever having to know the horrors of war, but war is coming here to this city. I don't want you to be a part of that. Once you've been a part of it, you're never the same again."

"What do you expect me to do, just leave you?" asked Mei-Ling. "I won't abandon you. I won't be forced to run away and leave behind everything I've known again, like I had to when Kuvira marched into Kyoshi Island. I won't leave you behind like I had to leave my other family members behind. I'll stay here with you to the very end."

"You're this adamant about staying?" asked Xai Bau.

"Yes, I am." said Mei-Ling.

"Fine then." said Xai Bau. "Stay here on the airship with me and keep me safe. However I urge you to give it some thought and reconsider. If something were to happen to me in this upcoming battle, I want you to escape from here however you can."

Xai Bau and Mei-Ling stayed there on the deck of the airship for a while, looking out the window and watching the city below.

* * *

Tensu now stood outside the room in which the Fire Nation royal family was being held captive, within the prison tower of the Fire Nation capital. Izumi, Zhen, Iroh, and his sister were all there, locked in a secure cell.

"You traitor!" yelled Iroh, calling out to Tensu. "Did all that time you spent fighting for the Fire Nation mean absolutely nothing to you? Was the oath you sworn to protect the Fire Nation completely meaningless?"

"You mean the very same Fire Nation that so callously tossed me aside like garbage and left me to die?" said Tensu. "That's not the Fire Nation I set out to defend, but even now, I'm still trying to protect it."

"How is what you're doing now protecting it?" asked Iroh.

"In order to protect the Fire Nation and its people, it must first be destroyed and rebuilt." said Tensu. "Once the poison of monarchies has been removed, only then will there finally be peace. Unfortunately for you, that will mean that the royal family will have to be sacrificed in order for that to happen."

"What do you mean?" asked Iroh, sounding worried.

"A few days from now, an execution will be held for all of you." said Tensu. "It will be the event that finally marks the end of the monarchy's rule over the Fire Nation. This may very well be the last time we speak to each other."

"So it's come to this?" said Iroh, with a sad, mournful tone.

"Sorry Iroh, but this is goodbye." said Tensu. "Though I will say one thing before I go. All that time we spent fighting together, all those good times we had, that at least meant something to me. I really did consider you my friend."

Tensu then walked out of the room and left the Iroh and the rest of the royal family alone. After having left the building, Tensu stood alone outside on a balcony of the prison tower, watching the sunset. Tensu could hear something approach and come down from air, landing next to him. He turned around to see that it was Zaheer, who had come to pay Tensu a visit.

"I was beginning to wonder when you would show up." said Tensu.

"What happened to you?" asked Zaheer, suddenly noticing the signs of damage all over Tensu's metal body, as well as his missing mechanical arm.

"I had a run in with the Avatar and her friends earlier today." said Tensu.

"Tensu, what is all of this?" asked Zaheer, sounding somewhat worried and upset.

"What do you mean?" asked Tensu.

"Everything that's going on here in the city." said Zaheer.

"It's the future Zaheer." said Tensu. "We're changing the Fire Nation."

"Change?" asked Zaheer. "This isn't change. This is tyranny; the very thing we had sworn to remove from the world. What is Xai Bau thinking?"

"Sometimes in order to bring about change, you must forcibly take the reins of society yourself and do some rather unpleasant things to accomplish your goals." said Tensu. "Sacrifices must sometimes be be made, all for the greater good."

"The greater good?" asked Zaheer. "Is it really worth sacrificing the principles we originally believed in, all for the _"greater good" _I want no part in something like that."

"Does it disturb you?" asked Tensu. "I thought when you joined the Red Lotus; you wanted to change the world like the rest of us."

"I did, but not like this." said Zaheer. "This feels wrong. I wanted to change it in a different way."

"We can't do what we did last time." said Tensu. "That backfired and created an even worse situation. Now we have to do things another way."

"There must be better way." said Zaheer. "A more peaceful and spiritual way. This has become less about change and more about personal revenge against the royal government for what they did to you and Xai Bau."

"What would you know about that?" asked Tensu. "They took everything from us. They ruined our lives and the lives of so many others. They deserve to be destroyed for what they did."

"Is destruction and violence really the answer?" asked Zaheer.

"Maybe you're not really cut out for this then?" said Tensu. "Even after all these years, you must still want to be an airbender afterall."

"I do still want to be an airbender, but I also want to help change the world as part of the Red Lotus." said Zaheer.

"Then what is it that you want Zaheer." said Tensu. "Will you follow your lifelong dream of becoming an airbender, or will you join the Red Lotus in helping to change the world? You can't do both. You can only choose one, so which will it be."

"I want to be an airbender then." said Zaheer. "All this started for me because I wanted to be one, and now that I actually am one, I'm not so sure about being part of the Red Lotus anymore."

"So you've abandoned our cause then?" asked Tensu.

"I wouldn't call it abandoning it." said Zaheer. "My heart's just not in it anymore. Now that I've finally achieved what I've dreamed of for so long, my heart desires different things now."

"Is the main reason you've returned to the Red Lotus and stayed because you feel some sort of obligation to me and Xai Bau?" asked Tensu.

"Yes." said Zaheer. "I still feel guilty because of what happened to you and everyone else because of the war, but my heart desires to be free. It doesn't want to be bound anymore."

"Don't feel that way." said Tensu. "What happened to us is the result of our own decisions and the actions of the royal government. If you want to leave, you're free to do so, if that's what you want."

"I can leave to follow my own path then?" asked Zaheer.

"Yes, you can." said Tensu. "I won't try to stop you. Go on, leave all of this behind. This place is about to become a war zone, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to experience something like that again. Just don't get in our way."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then." said Zaheer. "Maybe we'll meet again someday."

"Maybe we will." said Tensu. "Either in this life, or the next. Goodbye Zaheer."

Zaheer then began to levitate off the ground, and flew away into the distance. Tensu stood there lost in thought, lamenting on how all those he had once called friends were now slipping away from him, one by one, possibly never to be seen by him ever again.


End file.
